


Too Close

by SasuNarufan13



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Angst, AurorDraco, AurorHarry, Author can't write decent action scenes, Blood, Darkish Draco, Description dead babies, Description of wounds and dead bodies, Doesn't follow epilogue, Drama, Established Relationship, Forced Birth, Lemon, Life threatening situations, M/M, Mention past miscarriages, Mostly off scene violence, Mpreg, Slash, Suspense, Violence, Violence towards a pregnant person, birthday fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-19
Updated: 2015-08-30
Packaged: 2018-04-10 02:28:32
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 29,613
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4373729
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SasuNarufan13/pseuds/SasuNarufan13
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Draco's and Harry's children's wish has to be put on a hold when their newest case revolves around a murderer targeting pregnant men. They decide to play it safe until the killer is caught. Naturally nothing goes according to plan when it involves Harry Potter.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [LilMxPlagueRat](https://archiveofourown.org/users/LilMxPlagueRat/gifts).



> Author's note: This story is dedicated to LilMxPlagueRat, because it's her birthday today: happy birthday, honey! 
> 
> Couple of things to know about this story: it will have seven chapters, with the seventh one being the shortest as it will have the epilogue. The other six chapters all range between 3K and 6K, because my brain hates me and never knows when to stop writing. So there.
> 
> Warnings: established relationship; doesn't follow the epilogue; slash; MPreg; descriptions of dead bodies and wounds (if you have read 'I Heart You' you'll know what to expect). I think that's it for now
> 
> Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter - J.K. Rowling owns it.
> 
> I hope you'll enjoy the first chapter!

_Chapter 1_

Fingers lazily drew circles on his hip and he pressed himself closer with a warm smile adorning his face. A mouth trailed hot kisses across his collarbone and the owner of it raised his head, a blond eyebrow creeping up when he caught sight of the smile on the dark haired man's face.

"That smile usually means you're up to something," the blond Pureblood remarked dryly and he wrapped a leg around a thigh marked with various, red coloured love bites.

"I was just trying to imagine how our baby would look like," the dark haired man informed him and he dragged his nails lightly over the blond's back. "I sincerely hope that he or she gets your hair. At least that's manageable."

"Naturally my hair is better," Draco sniffed and then his face softened – a rare look only Harry got to see. "So you're not spooked out by the thought of carrying a baby?"

"After all the things I've seen and endured, a man carrying a baby is not that distressing or weird," Harry retorted dryly. "Makes sense actually; magic is capable of a lot of things after all."

Draco nosed his cheek and breathed out gently, making Harry shiver slightly when the warm breath caressed his neck. "Mother is going to be very excited that she will have a grandchild soon."

"She will spoil it rotten," Harry huffed, but his smile didn't diminish. There were worse ways that Narcissa could react to the news that she would have a grandchild in the near future.

After being together for four years and being married for two, they had decided that they were ready to have children of their own. After looking up the various ways to get pregnant and the precautions they had to take, they had come to the agreement that Harry would be the one to carry their child. Male pregnancies had a higher success rate if the baby was carried by a man who was magically very powerful and out of the two of them, Harry possessed the most magical power.

The thought that they would soon have a child of their own, a baby that would look like them, made Harry giddy and he couldn't help but steal another kiss from his lover.

"How did Teddy react?" Draco asked curiously and lay down next to the dark haired man; his hand absentmindedly trailing up and down over Harry's side.

Harry smiled; his own fingers playing with the feather light, blond hair. "He's very excited to become a big brother. He did ask that we should try to get a boy, because girls have cooties," he answered amused.

At the moment Teddy was having a sleepover at his grandmother's house. Most of the time he lived with Harry in the house he now shared with Draco – Grimmauld Place had been deemed too unsuitable to raise a child and full of bad memories – but occasionally he slept over at Andromeda's house. Usually when both men wanted to have some time together without fearing interruption from the eight year old boy.

They would pick him up this evening again, so that he would be in bed on time in order not to fall asleep during his lessons with his private tutor.

"Well, at least he won't be jealous; that's something," Draco murmured and then smirked. "And considering we both come from families that tend to have boys, I think he won't be disappointed."

"You know, we could still have a girl," Harry pointed out dryly. "It's not set in stone that we'll have a son."

"Not set in stone, no, but our genetics support my argument more than yours," Draco retorted with a sniff.

Harry opened his mouth to continue the argument – they may be married now, but that didn't mean he would let win the blond an argument that easily – when the sound of an incoming Floo call broke through their lighthearted conversation.

Draco groaned dismayed and let his head flop back on his rumpled pillow. "Merlin, can't they ever give us a break?" he groused, glaring at the open doorway as if it was its fault that they were being disturbed.

"At least it took them two days now," Harry remarked lightly and started fishing through their pile of hastily thrown off clothing on the ground for a pair of underwear. "That's more than last time when we were barely home for two hours."

Draco grumbled something inaudibly, but definitely unflattering for whoever had dared to disturb them on a Sunday morning and simply pulled on his trousers, forgoing his underwear.

When Harry walked towards the door after having pulled on some boxers, he was promptly hit in the face with a white shirt. "What the hell, Draco?" he spluttered, holding the garment in front of him, while he straightened his glasses. It was Draco's white, button down shirt.

"At least pull that on before you accept the Floo call, for Merlin's sake," Draco huffed.

"It's not like you're fully dressed," Harry couldn't help but point out, but at Draco's scowl, he chucked on the shirt, which draped a bit loosely around his frame.

"'S not the point," the blond muttered darkly and marched past his husband.

Harry snickered and followed his husband towards the foyer. "I thought you liked showing me off?" he asked innocently.

Draco threw him a side glance and pursed his lips. "I like showing people that you're off limits and they should be jealous that I got you," he admitted. "But that naked body is only for my eyes, and no one else's."

The dark haired wizard rolled his eyes and decided it wasn't worth the effort to retort to that particular statement.

The grim face of his best friend greeted him when he accepted the Floo call.

"Ron, what's the matter?" Harry asked bemused.

"We have a new case," Ron announced gloomily. "Kingsley asks that we go to the scene immediately."

"What kind of scene?" Harry inquired, frowning.

"A man was found murdered near Knightsbridge this morning," Ron explained with a grimace.

Draco furrowed his eyebrows. "That doesn't explain why we all have to go."

Silently Harry agreed with the blond; usually for a murder two Aurors were enough. With the 'we' Ron was implying that they had to go with five Aurors.

"Kingsley thinks there's a serial killer on the loose," the red haired man replied gruffly. "He'll explain more when you get there. The coordinates should have appeared on your desk by now."

The fire turned from green to red and gold again when Ron disappeared.

"Well, that was incredibly informative," Draco grunted and rose up, stretching his arms.

"Guess we'll have no choice," Harry sighed and stood up. He could only hope that they would be home on time to pick up Teddy.

* * *

They Apparated to Knightsbridge, where they found a large tent erected right behind a large pub. Wards around the perimeter assured that no Muggles would see them or even stumble onto the murder scene.

Kingsley greeted them with a tight smile when they walked into the tent, their red robes trailing behind them. Ron and two other Aurors were already conversing with each other quietly near the middle of the tent. Harry thought that the strawberry blonde woman was called Abigail Windforth and the short, stout man Baldwin Enger. Both had been working as an Auror for two years already before Draco and Harry joined the ranks. Until today, they hadn't had any missions together. Something told Harry that that would change today.

"Thank you for coming on such a short notice," Kingsley murmured. His face was drawn with fatigue and apprehension and a deep frown was etched into his forehead.

"Sure, what happened? Ron says you think there's a serial killer on the loose?" Harry questioned curiously. Next to him Draco was looking around the tent with sharp eyes.

"At first Aurors Windforth and Enger thought it was merely a coincidence, but after six months and a body count of three, this victim making it four, they decided that the circumstances are too identical to be coincidental," Kingsley replied and he opened a file he had kept wedged between his arm and side. "The victims are all men and they have all been killed in the same manner." He handed the papers over to Harry.

"They were all pregnant?" Harry raised an eyebrow at the information Abigail and Baldwin had gathered thus far. He felt Draco bending his head towards him and moved the papers, so that the blond could read them as well.

All victims had been six or seven months pregnant and they had all been found with their stomachs sliced open, their babies ripped out of their bodies. While the men died from blood loss and shock, their babies were placed in their arms where they died as well, because they were too underdeveloped to survive without the proper care.

"Dear Merlin," Draco breathed out and he flicked through the papers, looking at the pictures of the victims.

Harry, who felt slightly nauseous at the pictures of the bodies, turned his head away and looked at their head of the Auror department.

"Is there anything else that links the victims, aside from their pregnancies?" he asked and he clenched his hand. He had worked on murder cases before – two of them even involving serial killers – but when it involved children, whether they were unborn or already born, the cases always hit him that much harder. It wasn't the first time that he stumbled home after finally catching the murderer to hug his godson tightly against his chest. The boy never questioned those moments, thankfully, but only allowed his godfather to hold him as long as he needed.

"So far no other links. They seem to have been picked out randomly, which is why it took the two Aurors so long to make the connection," Kingsley sighed and then gestured behind him. "The victim is still there; we were waiting for you two to arrive before we take him to the pathologist. This case takes precedence over all others, understood?" His piercing, dark eyes looked at the couple sternly until they nodded solemnly. "I want whoever is responsible for these gruesome murders to be put behind bars before they make another victim."

"Understood, sir," Harry murmured and Draco inclined his head.

As soon as they were dismissed, they made their way over to the three other Aurors, who were huddled in front of the body.

Ron glanced at them when they appeared next to him. "It's not a nice sight," he warned them softly and grimaced; a look of disgust flitting over his face.

Emerald green eyes widened when they caught sight of the mutilated body and he heard Draco curse softly.

Slowly Harry bent down until he was crouching next to the body and his eyes wandered over the dead man, trying to locate anything that could give them clues concerning the killer's identity.

The victim was still a young man; he could have been barely twenty-two and his caramel brown hair obstructed half his face. A blank, deep blue eye peeked out from between the thick strands of wavy hair. His stomach had been sliced open horizontally; his intestines were spilling out from the gaping wound and his blood had formed a large puddle around him, mixed with some other fluids. In his arms, awkwardly crossed across his chest, a bloody, slime covered, small baby laid curled up; its eyes were closed and it had its small fist pressed against its mouth. It was a macabre presentation of how the man would have looked like if he had held his baby after the birth.

The stench was nearly unbearable and Harry covered his nose and mouth, forcing himself to look through the clothes, checking the pockets.

"I have something," Draco announced gruffly and he made a scrap of paper levitate in the air; his face almost disturbingly blank.

"There's something written on it," Abigail murmured; her deep set eyes studying the paper hesitatingly.

Baldwin read the text out loud, with disgust ringing through his voice. " _I will continue until the world has been cleansed from the unnatural freaks._ "

"Someone with a grudge?" Ron frowned, putting the paper in an envelope.

"A grudge is an understatement, Weasley," Draco grunted and he rose up, putting his wand away.

"Where is he?! I want to see him! I'm his boyfriend, damn it!"

The panicked, distraught voice made them whip their heads around and they simultaneously winced when they saw a brown haired, broad shouldered man being held back by Kingsley; his eyes, filled with sheer panic and worry, trained at their small group.

"Who's going to tell him the news?" Harry muttered and stood up.

Baldwin grimaced. "I'll inform him," he sighed and walked over to the distressed man.

Harry turned to address Abigail. "I assume the reports of the witnesses are back at the office?" He didn't envy Baldwin for informing the man that his boyfriend and unborn child had been murdered; informing family that their loved ones would never return to them was one of the hardest parts of his job.

"Yes, both written and in Pensive form," she answered, brushing a wayward strand of her hair out of her face. "We've gathered testimonies of both the witnesses and everyone close to the deceased."

"Has there been any arrests so far?" Draco inquired, patting the dirt off of his trousers.

"No, there are no suspects either," she grimaced. "Everyone turned out to have a solid alibi."

Grey eyes caught green ones and Harry nodded in answer to the unspoken question. "If you don't mind, Draco and I want to look through those reports again."

She shrugged, waving her hand weakly. "Be my guest. Maybe you two will be able to find a clue. Merlin knows Baldwin and I haven't managed that yet," she spoke bitterly, as she threw a forlorn look at the body of the young man.

"I'll stay here and ask around to see if anyone witnesses something last night," Ron announced, clapping Harry's shoulder. "I'll see you back at the office, mate."

The pathologist passed them on their way out of the tent; Kingsley had managed to make the partner of the deceased sit down on the other side of the tent. The older man was gently talking to the distraught man, offering him a cup of tea.

"That is something I hope never to experience," Draco murmured, brushing the back of his hand against Harry's.

The dark haired Auror smiled wryly. "I think that's something we all hope never to experience."

It was their job now to make sure that no other partners of pregnant men would have to experience what that man was going through right now.

* * *

"How come nobody has ever noticed something out of the ordinary?" Draco asked frustrated and slammed down the file on his desk.

For four hours they had been pouring through the testimonies and looking at Pensive memories, trying to discover more links between the victims than pregnancy only. So far all deaths appeared to be completely random; the only link between the men being the fact that they were either six or seven months pregnant at the time they were killed.

"Maybe the victims knew their killer and therefore nobody thought it was strange to see them leaving with that person?" Harry suggested, studying the file of the second man. He had been found in his own house, on the bottom of the staircase. He appeared to have been pushed from the top of the stairs and then had his stomach cut open and the baby removed. His husband had been a suspect for a couple of weeks until Veritaserum had proven that the man was innocent.

"Are we talking about four different killers then, who somehow all use the same modus operandi?" Draco sounded dubious. "Or one killer who somehow knows all four victims, despite no link existing between them?"

"Four different killers seems too farfetched," Harry murmured, placing the file in front of him on his desk. "Not to mention that the note clearly said 'I'. Not 'we'."

"They could have lied in the note to throw us off," Draco remarked, but his tone suggested that he didn't believe that either.

"No, I think we're dealing with one killer here," the dark haired wizard mused, tapping a finger on the file contemplatively. "The problem is trying to find out how this killer knew all the victims, even though these men never met each other."

A knock on the door of their office broke them out of their concentration. Ron poked his head from behind the door, looking quite tired.

"Spoke to everyone in that neighbourhood, who could have seen something happen," he said and entered the room, carrying a thin stack of papers. "Practically all of their testimonies are useless." He snorted harshly and placed the stack on Harry's desk.

"Practically all?" Draco repeated and raised an eyebrow. "What about the others?"

"One woman claims that she saw our victim passing by her house with another person last night at eight," Ron answered, his lips pursed. "She didn't get a good look at that person, because they were wearing a long cloak."

"So we still have nothing," Harry sighed, rubbing his forehead. When his eyes fell on the small clock on the windowsill, he cursed loudly. "Shit! I have to pick up Teddy!"

"Go on; there's not much you can do today," Ron told him, raking a hand through his hair. It was getting quite long, almost covering his eyes. "I'm planning on going home as well. Hermione just got back from her trip to Spain."

"Tell her I'll visit you soon," Harry smiled and he gathered all files together, depositing them in the box they had been stored in.

Draco followed his example and as soon as the boxes were locked up in their drawers and they had pulled on their coats, they made their way downstairs to use the Floo system.

"I don't like saying this, but it looks like this case will take a while," Draco murmured darkly, waving a hand absentmindedly at Millicent, who was making her way up to one of the higher levels.

"I really hope not, but I'm afraid you're right," Harry grimaced and their footsteps were loud in the otherwise relatively deserted hallway.

The lift took them downstairs and a couple of memos flew idly above their heads, waiting for the right floor to fly out of the lift to reach their intended target.

Right before Harry threw the Floo powder in the fireplace, Draco touched his elbow lightly.

"We'll need to discuss something once we are home and Teddy is in his room," he murmured; his grey eyes unnaturally bright.

Harry nodded resigned; already having an inkling as to what that particular conversation would entail.

* * *

"Can we go flying tomorrow, after my lessons are done?" Teddy asked; his hair switched rapidly from mouse brown to midnight black and his eyes turned from light brown to an unnatural bright blue colour.

Harry smiled strained, while he directed the third dirty plate into the sink. The sponge started scrubbing it while the second plate was being dried.

"Sure, one of us can take you out flying for a couple of hours," he agreed and he and Draco shared a quick look.

Teddy had always been a very perceptive boy and this time it was no different. "Do you and Uncle Draco have a new case?" he questioned apprehensively. His hands were wrapped around a mug of hot chocolate milk.

Draco smirked and tapped him quickly on his nose, making the young boy wrinkle it. "Yes, but one of us can take some time off tomorrow," he reassured him.

Teddy eyed the blond man warily, but nodded with a small smile.

"Do you still have homework to do?" Harry turned around to face his godson, raising an eyebrow at the decidedly guilty look crossing over the young boy's face. "Yes, thought so. Go on, finish it now. You know he won't be happy if you haven't finished all your homework," he chided him gently.

Teddy grumbled, looking put out, but acquiesced quickly and taking his cup with him, he left the room to face the daunting challenge of finishing his homework.

As soon as the last plate was put away and a Privacy screen was cast at the door, Harry sat down at the kitchen table, facing Draco.

"You said you wanted to talk?" he reminded the blond softly.

"Yes," Draco sighed and a frown marred his forehead. He reached out with his hand, covering Harry's. Harry let him turn over his hand, so that their fingers could entwine. "I know we talked about you taking the fertility potion soon, but maybe it's best to wait for a while longer."

"Because of the case, right?" Harry smiled sourly and nodded; disappointment welling up inside of him. "I understand."

Really he did, but it hurt somewhat that they had to put their children's wish on hold, all because of some lunatic who decided to go on a killing spree.

Slender fingers pressed underneath his chin, tilting up his head, so that he was forced to look straight into concerned, silver grey eyes. "Hey, you know I really want children with you, right? If we didn't have that case now, I would ask you to take that potion right now, so that we could put it to good use."

"I know, Draco, and I understand. It's just … I hate that we have to put this on hold," Harry admitted and he rubbed Draco's palm with his thumb. "Guess we just have to make sure we catch that bastard quickly, huh?"

"Yeah, the sooner the better," Draco agreed and leant over the table to kiss Harry softly.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's note: I'm surprised - pleasantly, mind - at the amount of attention this fic has received so far, so here's the second chapter :)
> 
> Thanks for the kudos and the comments so far! I really appreciate it!
> 
> Warnings: drama; description of dead bodies; you know the usual
> 
> Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter - J.K. Rowling owns it
> 
> I hope you'll enjoy this chapter!

_Chapter 2_

Two weeks later, a fifth body showed up in a small alley in Whitechapel. A man of nearly thirty years old with long, dark brown hair had been dumped near a container, propped up against the wall with his dead baby cradled in his broken arms, while his stomach and intestines were bared to the world; some of the intestines slipping out of the large, gaping gash, falling into large pool of dark red blood.

He had been about to become a single father and his only living relative had been his mother. Harry didn't think he would ever forget the almost inhuman, distraught scream that left the woman's mouth when she had to identify her own son.

"Maybe the killer lives in London?" Draco suggested hours later, when they were pouring once again over the various reports.

Harry looked at the list of places where they had found the bodies. "All bodies have been found near London so far," he murmured. "Sounds reasonable, but London is not exactly small."

"I know," Draco grumbled, jotting down something harshly on a paper. "But it's not like we have a lot of clues so far." He sighed, rubbing a hand over his cheek. "Had the mother something to say? Maybe her son going out with someone last night?"

"He did go out with some friends of his, but Baldwin and Ron have questioned them and they say that he left on his own around eleven p.m.," Harry replied, his eyes gliding over the testimony. "They haven't seen him since then and their alibis check out."

"So somewhere between him leaving his friends and going home, he must have encountered someone he knew," Draco muttered contemplatively, tapping the sharp end of his quill against the parchment. "Who would he trust to go with in the middle of the night?"

"I'd say he would go with a friend at that late hour, but all his friends were back at the pub," Harry answered and gripped some strands of his hair in frustrating, tugging at it.

"No boyfriend; friends all back in the pub; out late at night; nobody has seen anything … I have no clue how the fuck we're supposed to proceed from here. We literally have nothing to base us on, except that this bastard is targeting pregnant men," Draco growled and glared at his cold cup of tea.

"And it has to be someone who is familiar with all our victims, because their wands did not reveal any offensive or defensive spells casted right before their deaths," Harry added, lowering the testimony to stare blankly at the other files piled up on his desk.

"Do you think that the killer has made victims before these five?" Draco asked suddenly.

Harry furrowed his eyebrows, not completely following. "What do you mean?"

"Maybe the one we're searching has already been committed before for this sort of crime?" the blond wizard clarified and gestured at the files. "The pathologist said that the cuts were very precisely made, indicating a sort of expertise with it. The fact that we barely have any clue about the murderer can be because he learnt from past mistakes?"

"Hm, that could be," Harry said thoughtfully, tapping a finger against his lips. "I'll ask Miranda whether there have been cases like this one before."

Miranda worked in the Auror Archive Department and was in the possession of such a great memory that she could instantly deliver information of every case that the Aurors had handled. If someone had been targeting pregnant men before, she would be able to give that information immediately.

When he rose up from his chair however – his arse felt numb; he would need to renew the Cushioning charm on the wooden chair with the weak excuse of a pillow fastened to it – the fire in their small fireplace flared up, turning into a dark green before it showed Hermione's head dancing into the flames.

"Hermione? Has something happened?" Harry asked concerned. She never bothered them through the Floo at their work, unless it was an emergency. And considering who was with her now, worry started to grow, making his hand automatically cover his wand.

"No, no, nothing happened," she quickly reassured him and then smiled wryly. "Look, I normally wouldn't bother you at your work, but I have no choice now. I got called into the office just now and obviously I can't leave Teddy alone here. Do you mind if he stayed at your office for a little while? It will be two hours at most and then I can take him back until you two are done."

"It's not like we have stake out now or a clue as to what to do next," Draco sighed and shrugged. "Plus you know how he will react if we ask him to babysit for a few hours." The corners of his mouth twitched.

Harry rolled his eyes and relaxed; his tense shoulders slumping down. "Sure, send him through," he smiled and hastily gathered all the files on his desk, making sure that no photos or papers were left behind.

It was one thing for his godson to know that his godfather chased criminals as worse as murderers, but it was a whole other thing for the young boy to actually see the evidence.

"Thanks, Harry," Hermione smiled gratefully and disappeared out of the fire.

Only a couple of seconds later Teddy nearly fell out of it, not meeting the floor with his face thanks to Draco's interference.

"Thanks, Uncle Draco," Teddy muttered; a blush of embarrassment colouring his cheeks.

"Well, you take after your godfather when it comes to Flooing gracefully, that's for certain," Draco teased, his smirk widening at the huff that escaped the young boy.

This time his hair was a very light blond and his eyes a sea green. His bag was slung over his shoulder and several papers stuck out of it, some already wrinkled.

"Do you have homework?" Harry asked, clearing a space on his desk so that his godson could work at the desk next to him.

Teddy wrinkled his nose and sighed. "Yes, a short essay for Potions," he grumbled, dumping his bag on the floor after throwing a distasteful glower at it.

"You better get started then," Harry smiled, placing a quill, some parchment and an inkwell in front of Teddy, after he had conjured another chair. "If you have questions, though, you're better off asking Draco."

"Listen to your godfather, Teddy. At times he can give sensible advice." Draco ducked right on time and the paper ball hit the wall behind him.

While Teddy worked on his essay – with a sour look marring his face – Harry left to the Auror Archive Department, trusting Draco to keep an eye on his godson.

The curly, brown haired woman looked up with a smile when he knocked on the open door.

"Harry, it's been a while," Miranda greeted him and closed a book she had been reading.

"I know," he smiled sheepishly and leant on her desk. "I'm busy with a case. I actually have a question for you."

"Ask away," she said, curiosity lightening up in her light blue eyes.

"Can you recall whether there have been cases in the past where a killer was targeting pregnant men?"

Her face lit up in understanding. "You've been placed on that case, huh?" she murmured and then looked contemplatively for a short while. She slowly shook her head; a slight grimace tainting her pink coloured lips. "Sorry, Harry, but as far as I know there hasn't been a case like this before. It's a unique one, that's for sure."

"Ah, thank you anyway, Miranda," he smiled, nodding at her.

"Good luck with that case," she told him sincerely and he left her to go back to her reading, while he walked back to the Auror Department, frustration simmering inside him.

Draco looked up as soon as he entered their office again. "What did she say?" he asked, his quill hovering above his parchment.

"As far as she remembers, there hasn't been a case like this one before," he informed him and raked a hand through his hair.

"So we're not searching for a convict or a copy-cat," Draco muttered, scowling at his paper.

"Uncle Harry?" Teddy spoke up; a contemplative look etched onto his face.

The dark haired wizard took his seat back at his desk, pulling a file towards him. "Hm? What?"

"When are you going to have a baby?" Teddy looked at him with wide, curious eyes; his fingers loosely wrapped around his quill. "You said you and Uncle Draco would be trying soon," he prodded.

Harry froze and looked wide eyed at Draco, who stared back helplessly. What on earth was he supposed to answer? He didn't want to give any details about the case to Teddy, but he also knew that the boy wouldn't let up until he had finally got an answer. Sometimes he wondered where Teddy got that stubborn streak from.

"Well, eh," he stammered and licked his lips, trying to come up with a plausible answer. "It's, it's like this …"

Thankfully Draco jumped to his rescue. "We can't try yet, Teddy, because we still have to get a potion and we haven't been able to find it yet," he answered calmly; his face nearly completely blank.

Teddy frowned and pouted. "So you won't have a baby soon?"

The dark haired wizard chuckled weakly and ruffled Teddy's hair. "No, sorry, Teddy. As long as we don't have that potion, we won't be able to try."

"That sucks," the young boy grumbled, scowling at his paper. "I wish you'll be able to find that potion soon. I want someone to play with."

"Me too, Teddy, me too," Harry murmured and he was aware of Draco's heavy look on him when he returned back to his work.

So he felt a bit bitter about having to put their plans on hold; that was only natural. Only normal after all. Thus they just had to catch that killer soon, so they could start on expanding their family.

Easier said than done of course.

* * *

The sixth victim was found behind a theatre in Finsbury, dumped against an iron gate. A Muggle had found him during the early morning hours and it was only thanks to a passing by witch that the Obliviators had been called on time to erase his memory, before he could go on blabbing to newspapers about a man who had been pregnant before he was gruesomely murdered.

The end of April announced a slightly milder temperature, but it was still dreary in the morning and a light drizzle coated everything and everyone who was outside.

After hastily Floo calling Andromeda, so that she could stay with Teddy, Harry and Draco quickly changed into their Auror uniform and Apparated to the scene, having received the coordinates through owl.

Ron, with large bags underneath his eyes and his hair resembling a bird's nest more than actual hair, was already at the scene, hiding a large yawn behind his hand.

"Good morning," he muttered, taking a sip from his coffee. "We have another victim. A Muggle found him first, but a witch was just passing by while she was jogging and she managed to Stun him, so that the Obliviators could do their job."

Well, that was at least one thing less they had to worry about.

"Let me guess," Draco drawled while they approached the scene where a tent was already erected. "No witnesses, right?"

Ron snorted, throwing his empty, plastic cup into the bin they passed. "How could you guess?"

They passed the large building in which the theatre was located and crossed the street to reach the tent. Both sides of the street had been closed off by wards, letting Muggles believe that the road was closed off due to maintenance of the pavement. Additional wards had been raised to keep out nosy reporters as well, who were eager to get a picture of the deceased and an interview with one of the Aurors present.

The pathologist was already examining the body when they entered the tent. The man – grey hair at his temples and wrinkles marring his forehead – looked up when he became aware of their presence.

Alfred Treeman sighed, jotting down some more observations on his paper. "Not a nice sight to meet first thing in the morning," he muttered, and made a sign with his finger to his assistant, who snapped a picture of the body.

Nausea was sneaking up on Harry when he laid eyes upon the victim. He had just been a boy; his very youthful face indicated that he couldn't have been older than eighteen. His light brown eyes stared blankly at the roof of the tent, some blood trickling down from the corners of his mouth. His arms – just like with all the previous victims – had been crossed in front of his chest and his baby had been dropped into them, still attached to him with the umbilical cord. This time the murderer had cut open his stomach vertically; the gash stopping right underneath his chest. His stomach had been brutally ripped open, causing almost all of his intestines to spill out on the ground, covering a very large space with his blood. A golden ring around his ring finger was speckled with his blood and shone dully in the light.

"His name was Benjamin Longgrass," Treeman murmured, shaking his head, while pity shone in his eyes. "Judging by the state of his body, I'd say he was murdered somewhere between eleven and one a.m. last night."

"Sir, there appears to be something underneath his fingernails," the assistant – a young woman sporting dark blue hair – remarked and all the Aurors in the vicinity tensed up.

So far they hadn't been able to gather one clue of the killer's identity – would they finally have something to work with?

The pathologist extracted whatever was underneath the young man's fingernails with a pair of tweezers and held it into the light. "Looks like he managed to scratch his killer," he announced and put the human tissue into a thin vial. "Gentlemen, I hope you can work with this little bit of DNA."

"That's more than we had before," Baldwin commented and accepted the vial, studying it warily. "We'll compare it to the DNA samples we've collected so far. Hopefully we have a match with one of them."

"I wish you luck," Treeman mumbled and went back to writing down all the exterior injuries he could see, before they would bring the body to the morgue for further examination.

Harry took a step closer, to see whether there was another clue on the victim's body – like hair for example – when the smell of the decaying body and the blood hit him unexpectedly in the face. A sudden bout of nausea rolled over him like a wave in the ocean and he stumbled back, hand clapped over his mouth, while he rushed out of the tent.

"Harry?!" Draco called out to him worriedly, but he ignored him and fled away from the god awful smell.

He had barely exited the tent when he fell down on his knees, lurched forwards and started retching, his meal of the night before forced back through his throat, burning the sensitive tissue. He gasped and retched again, his eyes clenched tightly while his stomach convulsed.

Hands were touching him, rubbing his back, but he was barely aware of them; everything narrowed down to the burning feeling in his throat, the nasty bitter taste in his mouth and his stomach that seemed intent on expelling everything that had been in it.

When he finally stopped throwing up, he gasped and coughed, grimacing when the bitter taste coated his tongue and palate.

"Here," Draco murmured and handed him a glass with cool water.

"Thanks," Harry rasped and took a careful sip, sighing in relief when the coolness of the water soothed his burning throat.

"What happened?" Draco knelt down next to him, keeping a hand on his lower back, while he gazed worriedly at his husband.

"I don't know," Harry mumbled, raising a shaky hand to wipe across his forehead, where cold sweat had formed. "I just suddenly felt nauseous when I smelt that body." He shuddered and closed his eyes; the scent of decay seemed to have wormed its way in his nose, making him almost retch again.

"You never had to throw up before when you saw a body," Draco pointed out; his eyebrows furrowed. "Do you feel ill?"

"Not really. No more than usual after throwing up," Harry replied, placing the now empty glass on the ground. Nausea had left him, but embarrassment was creeping up on him. Merlin, what would the others think of him now? Throwing up when you saw a dead body was normal – when it was your first murder case. Harry had got used to the awful stench being exuded from dead bodies – though he wished he hadn't had many opportunities to get used to that particular smell – but this time, his body had revolted against it. Maybe he had caught a bug and the stench had been the trigger?

"Maybe we should get you to the …"

Something moved in his peripheral vision and Harry whirled around, his wand already in his hand. He had just enough time to notice a cloaked person standing on the other side of the street, before the mysterious person – man? woman? – raised their arm and created a very familiar pattern in the air.

They were trying to set the tent on fire.

Barely having any time to think, Harry swished his own wand down harshly, calling up the strongest and biggest shield he could think of, that would protect both the tent and its occupants and them kneeling next to it.

The moment his magic rose up to create the shield with its generic metallic sheen to it, something inside Harry twisted painfully and he choked out a whimper of pain, before everything turned black before his eyes.

* * *

An immaculate and unfortunately very familiar white ceiling greeted the dark haired wizard when he opened his eyes, his sight fuzzy and hazy. Someone had taken his glasses away.

When he struggled to sit up straight, a hand came down on his chest, gently, but firmly pushing him down again.

"No, Harry, you need to keep still for now," Draco's voice murmured from somewhere to the right of him.

"My, my glasses," Harry mumbled; his tongue feeling oddly numb for a couple of uncomfortable minutes.

"Here." A pair of glasses was carefully put on his nose.

Harry blinked, his vision becoming clearer now that he had his glasses back. "Why am I in Saint Mungos?" he asked confused, bringing a hand up to touch his forehead. His memory was fuzzy and it took him some time before he remembered that he was supposed to be on the scene of the murder.

Where someone had tried to set the tent on fire.

_Fuck._

"Is everyone okay? Did …"

"Calm down, Harry!" Draco barked, pushing his panicking husband back into the narrow hospital bed. His grey eyes were darkened with wariness and worry. "Everyone is all right. Your shield was just in time."

"Did you get the person who wanted to set fire to the tent?" Harry demanded to know, vaguely aware of the heart monitor beeping shrilly in response to his increased heart rate.

Draco pursed his lips and his fingers tightened slightly around Harry's arm. "No, we didn't," he murmured; anger tainting his voice. "Before any of us could go after them, that person Apparated away."

"Fuck!" Harry collapsed back into the bed, glowering at the ceiling which seemed to mock him with its whiteness. He turned his head to look at the weary blond, sitting in one of the uncomfortable, creaky chairs the hospital was so fond of providing. "Why am I in the hospital?"

"You collapsed after you raised the shield," the blond wizard told him bluntly and he looked at Harry grimly. "Nothing we did managed to bring you back to consciousness, so I brought you here. The Healer has taken some blood to examine it. He should be back soon."

Harry stared blankly at his lover, his brain having difficulties processing the fact that he had collapsed after using a simple shield. Sure, he had collapsed before when he used too much magic for a too long time – one of the perils of being an Auror – but he hadn't used that much magic now. Why the hell had he collapsed?

A Mediwitch came bustling into the room and her blonde curls danced around her face when she whipped her head around as soon as she took notice of the fact that Harry was awake.

Her face lightened up. "Oh, Mister Potter, you're awake! I'll get Healer Thompson!" She practically ran out of the room in her eagerness to retrieve the Healer.

"I'm really starting to hate hospitals," Harry muttered and finally Draco allowed him to sit up straight against the thin pillow.

Draco snorted; his hand curling over Harry's. "It's not like I'm fond of them. Be glad that Kingsley managed to keep the reporters away from the hospital. We'll need the Floo if we want to get home without getting ambushed."

Green eyes eyed him shrewdly. "Home? We still have some hours left before our shift is done," he reminded the blond in case he had forgotten about it.

"Oh please, as if I'm letting you get back to work after collapsing like that." Draco scowled at him. "Shacklebolt ordered you to stay home for today as well," he added, almost sounding triumphantly.

It was Harry's time to glower at him. "Seriously, Draco, I feel fine! I'm not an …"

He was interrupted by the door opening once more, revealing Healer Thompson – the man who always tended to him whenever he landed in the hospital after an Auror's mission had gone awry.

"Hello, Mister Potter," Thompson greeted him with a gentle smile and looked through his papers. "You had almost beaten your own record of staying out of the hospital for three months." Amusement rung through his voice.

Harry relaxed; if Thompson was making jokes, it meant that whatever had caused him to pass out wasn't that serious. "You know me: I love this hospital," he retorted dryly.

"Hm, one would almost start assuming that," Thompson replied good-naturedly.

"Did you find out what caused Harry to collapse after he used the Iron Shield spell?" Draco asked impatiently, clearly not amused by their little banter. It could also be because Thompson still referred to Harry as "Mister Potter" instead of "Mister Malfoy-Potter". The blond could be very sensitive about that particular name change.

"Draco!" Harry hissed and gave him a reprimanding look, to which the blond only grunted.

"Yes, we did manage to discover what has caused Mister Potter to collapse," Thompson answered and looked up from his papers with a bright smile. "I suppose congratulations are in order, Mister Potter!"

Harry blinked, thrown off by the bright smile and the happy tone in his Healer's voice. "Congratulations?" he repeated bemused. "What for?"

"Well, Mister Potter, you're pregnant. Five weeks pregnant to be exact." Thompson offered them a large grin. "You're going to be parents in eight months!"

What. The. Fuck.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN2: Does this ending count as a cliffhanger? I don't really think so, but what do I know? LOL Please leave your thoughts behind in a review! Should you notice a mistake, please point it out to me so that I can correct it!
> 
> See you all in the next chapter!
> 
> Cuddles
> 
> Melissa


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's note: Just to reassure everyone, this story won't be abandoned and will continue to be updated until we reach the end. I'm not planning on putting this story on hold.
> 
> Now that I have said that, I'm beyond happy with the response this story has received so far! I hadn't expected this amount of response - though I'm obviously not complaining :D I'm really glad that you are enjoying this story!
> 
> Thanks for all the comments and kudos!
> 
> Warnings: MPreg starting and small dash of drama. 
> 
> Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter - J.K. Rowling owns it.
> 
> I hope you'll like this chapter!

_Chapter 3_

Static noise filled his ears and he felt dazed, as if he had just received a hit to his head. Well, the news could certainly act as a hit to the head.

"You're joking, right?" Harry said weakly, staring wide eyed at the Healer who stood in front of his bed.

Thompson blinked surprised. "No, Mister Potter, I'm not joking. The tests have concluded that you're five weeks pregnant. You collapsed, because your magic is currently being shared between you and the baby and the sudden surge of your magic caused too much strain on your body. I'd advise you to be careful about which spells you use from now on. And it's also a good idea to be put on desk duty, naturally."

"But, but I can't be pregnant," Harry mumbled, mostly to himself. His eyes shifted from the Healer to his stomach, which was still flat as a board. Surely the Healer was mistaken? There was no way he had got pregnant; he would have needed to ingest the fertility potion for that and he and Draco had decided to wait with that until the killer had been caught.

Shit. _The killer_. What the hell was he supposed to do now?

"The potion you ingested did its work as it should. Why are you so surprised, Mister Potter?" Thompson asked confused.

"Can you leave us alone for a moment?" Draco asked abruptly; his grey eyes had grown hard as stone, completely closed off.

Thompson's gaze slid from Harry to Draco and he nodded slowly. "Of course. I'll be back when you're ready to discuss the pregnancy." With a last nod, he silently left the room.

The sound of the door clicking shut had never been so loud.

Harry swallowed and slowly raised his head. "I – Draco, how could this have happened?" he asked in a small voice, feeling helpless. How could he be pregnant? They had both decided to wait with having children, so how come he had ingested the fertility potion without even realising it?

"I don't know. Why don't you tell me?" Draco questioned bitterly and his cold, stone grey eyes glowered at the dark haired man.

"What? I don't know anything about this!" Harry protested. "We agreed to wait with children until the killer is caught, remember?"

"Yes, and I also distinctly remember you being very disappointed about that," Draco retorted sharply.

Harry stared at him incredulously. "Are you … Do you seriously think that I took that potion without telling you?" His voice gained a slightly higher pitch and he clenched his hands, his nails cutting faint, crescent shaped marks into his soft flesh.

How could Draco even think he would go behind his back like that? Bring himself in danger like that?

"How else would you have got the means to get up the duff?" Draco snapped, slamming his hand down on the hard mattress. "Damn it, Harry, you had agreed to wait!"

"Draco, I seriously didn't take the potion! I'm not stupid!" Harry hissed, anger starting to make its way through his veins.

"And you expect me to believe that?" Draco laughed harshly. "The facts are against you, Harry! You're pregnant! I didn't give you the potion and we haven't gone out to eat in the past two months either, so nobody could have slipped it to you for whatever fucked up reason they could have had! Just fucking admit you took it!"

"For fuck's sake, I didn't take the …"

"Uncle Harry is pregnant?" An excited voice burst through their heated argument and they whirled around in shock.

Andromeda stood in the doorway, her hand on Teddy's shoulder, and she looked at them apologetically. "I'm sorry, dear, but he was in the room with me when Ron Floo called that you had been brought to the hospital and he didn't want to wait at home," she explained and she looked uncomfortable, clearly not having anticipated walking into an argument.

Teddy squirmed until he managed to free himself and he ran towards Harry, hastily climbing onto the small bed.

His brown eyes changed to emerald green and they glittered in excitement. "You're having a baby, uncle?" he asked again and his eyes shot to Harry's stomach in wonder.

Harry shifted uncomfortably and forced himself to unclench his fists. "Ah, yeah, I'm pregnant, Teddy," he murmured and he felt Draco's frosty glare at the back of his head, making him clench his teeth. What did he have to do in order for Draco to believe him? He hadn't taken the damn potion!

Teddy clapped in his hands, looking obviously thrilled and strangely pleased with himself. "So the potion _did_ work!" he chirped and he stretched out his hand, patting Harry's flat stomach gently. "When will your belly grow, uncle?"

Harry ignored his godson's last question and instead focused on what he had said first. "Potion? What are you talking about, Teddy?" he asked apprehensively and his heart started to beat faster. Surely he had misheard the young boy?

"The potion to get a baby in your belly," Teddy grinned. "I asked Uncle Sev what potion you need to take to get a baby and he showed me it. I borrowed the potion for a bit to put some in your drink, uncle. I gave the bottle back to Uncle Sev, though," he hastily reassured his godfather, who was paling rapidly. "Uncle Draco said you couldn't find the potion, so I wanted to help you!"

This was … completely unexpected. Harry didn't know whether to get angry and scold the boy or … or … Or do what exactly? Thank him for slipping him the potion? Yes, Harry wanted to have children, but now was really not the good time. Not to mention Teddy should never have slipped him the potion without telling him. He had done it to make his godfather happy, but he clearly had no idea how dangerous the idea was. Naturally Teddy couldn't have known about the killer, but he should have realised that giving someone potions without the person being aware of it was a bad thing to do.

"YOU DID WHAT? HOW COULD YOU BE SO STUPID?" Draco raged, slamming his fist down on the small nightstand. He didn't even seem to register the pain that must be shooting through his arm now. His wand sparked in reaction to his anger and his eyes had narrowed down to furious slits, glaring down at Teddy, who paled and trembled underneath his anger.

Tears started to gather in his eyes, glittering brightly in the light and his lower lip wobbled. "I – I wanted to help you," he stammered; his face a picture of fear. Draco had never lashed out at him in fury before.

"And so you stole a god damn potion and gave it to your godfather without telling him? That has to be the stupidest and most idiotic thing you've done so far!" Draco ranted and he drew up to his full height.

Teddy burst out in tears; his violent sobs causing his body to shudder visibly. "I – I didn't mean to …"

"Andromeda, can you take Teddy with you for a moment?" Harry said urgently and quickly sat up, forming a barrier between Draco and Teddy.

Teddy whimpered and it was clear that he was so shaken by the sudden outburst of Draco that he didn't even dare to hug Harry, only whispering, "I'm sorry, I'm really sorry, uncle. I didn't mean to. I'm sorry!"

Andromeda crossed the room and coaxed Teddy off the bed, shepherding him out of the room while muttering soothingly to him, throwing one last wary look at them before she closed the door behind them.

As soon as the door was closed, Harry whirled around to confront Draco, whose chilling eyes could be a good substitute for the Body Freeze curse.

"Did you really have to be that angry at Teddy? You made that poor boy cry!" he said angrily, shoving the blankets off him.

"That poor boy? He has made you a target for the killer, because he had to stick his nose into our business!" Draco snapped, lashing out with his arm. "He knows better than to sneak potions in someone's drink and yet he did that! You can't honestly tell me you're all right with this!"

"Look, I agree: Teddy shouldn't have given me the potion without telling me. That was wrong of him and I'll talk to him about that," Harry sighed and rubbed his temples, in a vain attempt to stave off the headache that was slowly emerging. "But what's done is done. Getting angry at him won't change the fact that I'm pregnant now. He didn't know that we had a good reason to not have children right now. He believed you when you told him we couldn't get a hold on a potion and he just wanted to help us. He's a good kid, Draco, but just a bit too …" he searched for the correct word, "just a bit too enthusiastic," he finally decided. Not exactly the word he was going for, but it came close to what Teddy was.

All air seemed to leave Draco and he deflated like a balloon. He leant against the wall with slumped shoulders and crossed arms. "What are we going to do now?" he asked softly and looked at Harry tiredly.

Harry bit his lip and then decided he might as well throw it out now to avoid future misunderstandings. "I know that now is not a good time, but Draco, I don't want an abortion," he told him and while he was confident in his decision, he couldn't stop his voice from trembling slightly. His fingers clenched down in the rumpled heap of blankets.

No, he couldn't even contemplate the thought of getting rid of their baby. Yes, it was most likely stupid to keep the baby now – they weren't even close to catching the killer or even knowing his identity and keeping the child would just make him a walking target in a couple of months. But it was _their_ baby. Something they both wanted and had decided to have. The circumstances weren't ideal, but they had to work with what they had. He had an insane amount of luck – perhaps that luck would hold out now and they would catch the killer soon.

"I thought you were going to say that," Draco sighed and sounded exhausted. He pinched the bridge of his nose.

Harry regarded him carefully, shuffling a bit closer to the edge of the bed and he swung his legs over them, resting his feet on the floor. "Are you going to tell me that you don't want to keep this baby?" he questioned apprehensively.

He had honestly no idea what on earth he would do if Draco told him he didn't want to take the risk and wanted to get rid of the baby now. He didn't want to force Draco to take care of a child he didn't want, but he couldn't imagine getting rid of their baby either. The first tendril of fear started to wrap around him.

"Don't be stupid, Harry," Draco answered and caressed his cheek tenderly. His eyes softened. "You know I want children with you."

Harry covered his hand and slipped an arm around Draco's waist, bringing him closer to him. "Then you want to keep this baby?" he asked softly, not daring to let the hope rise up in him.

He closed his eyes when soft lips descended on his forehead, pressing a tender kiss on his fading scar. "Yes, we'll keep it. We're going to get into some major shit, but we're going to keep it," Draco murmured and let out a soft sigh.

"We'll need to tell Kingsley," Harry mumbled after a short silence. His forehead was pressed against Draco's shoulder and he inhaled his comforting scent.

"Yeah," Draco paused, "he's not going to be happy with it. You also need to be put on desk duty."

Harry grimaced, but didn't protest. He wasn't about to risk their unborn child even more by going into the field. "We'll need to raise extra wards as well," he added, thinking about the wards they had now. Those were strong, stronger than most wizard homes, but even stronger ones added to them wouldn't hurt. "And I'll stay home once I hit the six month mark."

Draco pulled back abruptly and raised his head by putting two fingers underneath his chin. He looked at Harry in wonder. "You would really stay at home?"

Harry frowned. "Of course. The killer has so far focused on men who were six to seven months pregnant, so if I stay home around that time, there's no way he'll be able to get me," he reasoned. It was probably a naïve solution, but it was all he could do for now.

A look of utter relief passed over the blond's face. "Thank you; I didn't think you would want to do that."

"Look, I know I have been reckless in the past, but I'm not going to risk our baby," Harry murmured, pressing a fleeting kiss on Draco's wrist.

"Or risk yourself," Draco added, caressing his jaw.

"Or risk myself," Harry agreed and then raised an eyebrow. "And you need to apologise to Teddy right now. You had no right to yell at him like that."

"Yes, I know," Draco grimaced and stepped back. "I'll apologise now. I was just worried."

While Draco explained to a teary eyed Teddy that he was sorry for getting so angry at him, Harry put a hand on his stomach. A rush of resolve coursed through him. No matter what it would take, he would make certain that he wouldn't become the killer's next victim.

They were going to survive this. They just had to.

* * *

Kingsley hadn't been particularly happy with the new development.

Harry couldn't exactly blame him for that; thanks to Harry's new situation, Kingsley would have to find a new Auror to add to the team whenever they had to visit a scene or interrogate suspects. While Harry could take care of the paperwork concerning the case, it wouldn't be a good idea to have him be at the murder scenes or join an interrogation. The last murder scene had proven that even something as simple as checking a dead body could become quite dangerous.

* * *

"So, why the sudden interest in these particular wards?" Charly Bakers, the Ministry's leading expert in creating protection wards, mused while his wand created odd patterns in the air. "I mean, it looks like you already have quite some heavy wards set up in place."

"It can never hurt to have even heavier wards, right? We're both Aurors, so we have quite a few enemies," Draco answered smoothly.

"Hm, you've got a point there," Bakers mumbled and took a couple of steps to the right, so that he could weave wards there.

Harry had to stifle a smile when Draco rolled his eyes. At the Ministry only Kingsley, Ron and Hermione were aware that he was pregnant; none of them trusted the other Aurors enough to keep it a secret. Aurors still gossiped and if some of them knew about it, they would want to discuss it with others, under the pretence that those people would keep quiet about it. But Harry had learnt the hard way before that secrets could easily leak out and gossip worked fast. Given the circumstances, it just wasn't smart to inform more people about it than was necessary. The other Aurors were led to believe that Harry's magic had gone wonky for a while and therefore couldn't be trusted in situations where his magic would be likely to react to stimuli.

Harry hated the way some of the Aurors regarded him like he was some kind of freak, obviously wary of him, but the truth would bring them in danger, so he ignored the whispers and the glances as much as he could.

The new ward glittered in the May sun for a few seconds, before it tied itself to the ground and to the already existing wards.

"You want the wards around the whole property, yeah?" Bakers inquired again; glancing at Draco with scrutiny in his mud brown eyes.

"Around the whole property, yes," Draco agreed calmly. "Extend it to a few yards behind the garden as well."

Bakers raised a bushy eyebrow, but shrugged, clearly having decided that asking more specific information would be futile.

The front door opened with a soft 'creak' and a blond mop of hair popped out. "Uncle Harry, Uncle Sev is in the living room," Teddy announced; a purple crayon still clenched in his fist.

"All right, I'll be right there," Harry called back and touched Draco's wrist lightly, calling his attention.

"The vitamins?" Draco asked almost inaudibly, moving his lips imperceptibly. His grey eyes never strayed from Bakers who was now working on a new ward on the right corner of their house.

"Yes, and probably a scolding as well," Harry remarked amused and left, trusting Draco to keep an eye on Bakers.

* * *

Snape looked up from his observation of the bookcase when Harry entered the living room.

"Your taste in literature is deplorable, Potter," he informed him idly and his cloak whirled around his legs when he turned around.

The thick, reddish scar around his neck – proof that he had survived Nagini's bite during the last night of the war – stood out starkly against his otherwise pale skin.

"Not for the lack of trying on Draco's part, sir," Harry quipped and casted a quick glance at Teddy, who sat at the table, working intently on a drawing. He sat down on the couch, slightly sinking into the cushion. "You have the vitamins?"

Snape made a sweeping gesture with his hand over a brown, leather bag, put on the carpeted floor next to the lone armchair. "These will last you for two months. After that, I'll bring you more," he replied calmly and sat down on the armchair; his dark eyes focused on Harry.

"Thank you for preparing these, sir," Harry told him earnestly. Draco and he had briefly entertained the thought of visiting an Apothecary in disguise, until Draco's distrust for potions made by unfamiliar people had raised its head again and had made them decide in the end to ask Snape to prepare the potions for Harry.

"Narcissa let me know, in not to misunderstood terms, that if I did not agree to prepare the vitamins for you and the brat, I would very much regret ever making that decision," the older man informed him dryly, putting his fingertips together.

Harry couldn't contain the smile breaking through on his face. They had informed Narcissa two weeks ago that she would become a grandmother and despite the present danger, she had been quite ecstatic, going as far as offering the Malfoy Manor to Harry in case he needed a place to hide. She had been hinting for quite a while now that she wouldn't mind becoming a grandmother soon – each time hastily correcting herself, stating that she did consider Teddy as her grandchild, but well, one more would be welcome, right?

Lucius – who was still in Azkaban, serving his fifteen year sentence – had reacted a bit coolly to the news, just like how he had reacted when Draco informed him he was planning to marry Harry. However, Harry had picked up the quick flash of relief flitting into those cold, stone grey eyes – similar to Draco's, yet so different at the same time – when Draco had proudly told him that he would become a grandfather soon. For all that Lucius had his reservations about having Harry as a son-in-law – the feeling was mutual if you asked Harry – he was proud of what his son had managed to become, even with their ruined reputation after the war, and he was glad that the Malfoy line would continue.

"That said," Snape broke through his thoughts abruptly and dark eyes narrowed in contempt. "I still consider you two to be the definition of foolish for persisting with this, considering the circumstances."

Harry sighed and raked a hand through his unruly hair. "We know, sir. It's not like we haven't realised it," he retorted sharply, mindful of the young boy sitting behind him. Teddy still didn't know anything about their case and of the way he had inadvertently made his godfather a possible target and Harry wanted to keep it like that.

"At least you are taking precautions," Snape murmured, looking disdainfully outside, where he most likely had seen Bakers passing by the window. "That's more than I expected you would do."

"Thank you for having such a high opinion of us, sir," Harry said dryly. Snape would always be Snape, no matter the odd truce they had going on now ever since Harry had testified for him.

"You foolish, foolish boy," Snape murmured, throwing him an undiscerning glance. Abruptly he stood up. "I need to go back to Hogwarts. Unlike some, I can't choose my hours."

Harry ignored the jab towards him with a practice formed throughout the years and inclined his head. "Thank you again, sir, for being willing to do this."

Snape snorted harshly, passing him on his way to the foyer. "Yes, yes, just don't make me regret wasting my ingredients on you," he muttered and that was probably the closest thing Harry would ever get to hearing him say "Do stay safe.".

"Teddy, do not forget to hand in your essay tomorrow," Snape warned Teddy, who looked up with a small squeak. "I will not be pleased if you do not have it with you."

"Yes, Uncle Sev!" Teddy hastily assured him.

Harry stifled a smile and then went outside again, to see how much progress had been made in his short absence.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN2: Not much action in this chapter, but well, that can't happen in every chapter, right? Please let me know what you think of the chapter in a review! Should there be mistakes left behind, please point them out to me.
> 
> I'll see you all in the next chapter!
> 
> Cuddles
> 
> Melissa


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's note: Here I am with the fourth chapter. I'm really happy with the response I'm receiving :) Thank you, guys, I really appreciate it!
> 
> Thank you for the kudos and the comments!
> 
> Warnings: description of dead bodies (including babies); angst; time skips; mature scene, including a bit of dirty talk 
> 
> Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter - J.K. Rowling owns it
> 
> I hope you'll like this chapter! Please leave your thoughts behind in a review! Should you spot any mistakes, please point them out to me!

_Chapter 4_

The next month passed by relatively smoothly. There was no new victim, but the DNA sample had proven that the one they were searching for was not a convict or even a former suspect of previous cases. What was surprising, however, was the fact that the DNA sample belonged to _a woman_. Either their latest victim had had a fight with a woman before the killer found him – though his friends claimed he hadn't been in any fights since he had got pregnant – or the killer was actually a woman.

That made her motive even more obscure. Why would a woman go around killing pregnant men? What could possibly be her reason for doing that?

Harry had brought up the note again that they had found on the body of one of the victims; maybe the woman went around killing the men, because she thought it was unnatural for them to get pregnant, despite the fact that male pregnancies hadn't been that uncommon for more than a hundred years already?

They could discern no real motive and that made it even more difficult to find out who she was or even where she was. She had to live near London, as so far the victims had been found near the city, but that was all they had so far.

Draco somehow managed to get the weekend off to celebrate his birthday and they dined in a Muggle restaurant – still quite expensive, because Draco insisted that a Malfoy deserved the best. Andromeda had agreed to take Teddy for the weekend and both men enjoyed their time together – since the case had been given to them, private time had become something elusive.

Then at the end of June, a seventh victim showed up; this time in Woolwich, dumped next to a giant container near a school. This man seemed to have put up quite a fight as quite a lot of bones had been shattered by the Bone Crush curse before his stomach had been sliced open. He had been almost eight months pregnant when the killer got to him. His fiancé was in Germany at the moment and they had to use a special Portkey to return him to England immediately.

Underneath the victim's fingernails they found skin particles and even some blood from when he had scratched his attacker. Some blonde hair stuck to his clothes as well – the killer was starting to become sloppier.

Still while they now knew the killer had blonde hair, they still didn't have any reliable witnesses. If people saw the victim with someone, this person always wore a cloak or used a charm which made their face appear blurry to everyone who looked at them.

Interrogating his friends and family didn't yield any results either – by this point, the interrogation was merely a formality, as none of the Aurors believed that those would give reliable results.

* * *

On the thirty-first of July, Harry woke up to the feeling of fingers caressing his rounded stomach, while a mouth was peppering kisses in his neck.

Enjoying the sweet caresses, he turned to lay down on his back and hummed sleepily.

"Happy birthday, Harry," Draco whispered in his ear, biting teasingly in his earlobe.

"Hm, how long have you been awake?" Harry murmured, blinking the sleep out of his eyes. An involuntary smile broke open on his face when he felt their baby tumbling in his belly. Since a week he could feel a fluttery movement in his belly at times and the first time it had startled him so badly, he had dropped his glass with iced tea.

"Hm, for a while," Draco mumbled and brushed another kiss against Harry's jaw. His hand stilled on Harry's stomach and he looked at it contemplatively. "Was that … Is the baby moving?" he asked uncertainly.

"Hm, yes; can you feel it?" Harry asked, brushing his nose against Draco's cheek. He grunted in surprise when their baby kicked him harder than expected. "Incredibly active already."

"We have an appointment today," Draco muttered and shuffled down the bed, so that he could place an ear against Harry's stomach. "Do you think we'll be able to see whether it's a boy or a girl?"

Harry let out an amused huff, trailing his own hand across his bulging stomach. He was five months pregnant now and thankfully the nausea had stopped incapacitating him after he had hit the four month mark. "Depends on how stubborn our baby will be," he answered, quirking another smile.

Draco came up again to give him a slow kiss on his mouth. "I disabled the Floo last night," he confessed lightly.

"Oh?" Harry quirked an eyebrow. "Why?"

"So that we won't be bothered today," Draco sighed and his eyes twinkled. "Can't have work calling us away when we can celebrate your birthday."

"I would normally scold you for disabling the Floo, but I can't say I mind," Harry replied, trailing his fingers through Draco's mussed up hair. "It's been a while since we had some time together."

"That's true," the blond hummed and his fingers trailed suggestively and dangerously close to Harry's groin. "Sometimes it makes me regret the fact that I ever chose to become an Auror."

Harry opened his mouth to reply, but the door suddenly flew open, causing the two men to scramble on the bed, putting space between them.

"Happy birthday, Uncle Harry!" Teddy cried out with a big grin plastered on his face and he practically flew on the bed, eager to give his godfather a hug.

Harry heard Draco curse underneath his breath and he stifled an amused smile. "Thank you, Teddy," he murmured, returning the hug and placing a swift kiss on the boy's forehead.

"I made breakfast," Teddy informed the older man proudly and he pulled back; his brown locks rapidly changing into messy, black ones while his eyes turned a deep green with a hint of grey near the pupils.

"You did? Thank you," Harry grinned. "What did you make?"

"Chocolate pancakes. Mimmy is making eggs with toast," Teddy answered cheerily and wiggled his way out of Harry's arms. "Come on! Before it gets cold!" With that, he ran out of the room again, thumping down the stairs.

"Tonight you're going to be mine alone," Draco murmured sullenly. "I'll lock that brat up in his room if I have to!"

Harry snickered and gave him another kiss before he stood up, stretching lazily. Chocolate pancakes actually sounded very good at the moment.

* * *

"I apologise, Mister Potter," Thompson started, "but I can't help you with the ultrasound. I'm not specialized in obstetrics, so I need to refer you to another Healer."

Harry nodded; he had already suspected that much. "Who's going to be my Healer from now on?"

"Healer Lovegood will take over your case," Thompson smiled. "I assure you she's very good at her job."

"I have no doubt about that," Harry chuckled and stood up. "Where can I find her?"

"She's on the second floor in room 203," Thompson answered and turned around to answer a question from one of the Mediwizards.

"Lovegood? Loony Lovegood?" Draco hissed in his ear while they made their way to the second floor with Teddy skipping in front of them; his head swivelling from one side to the other, taking in his surroundings.

Harry sighed and rolled his eyes, pinching Draco discreetly in his side, causing the blond man to jump and hiss in pain. "Behave, Draco," he murmured and they stepped into the lift. "She's nice and I'm sure she's a good Healer."

It had been a couple of years since he last saw the dreamy, blonde girl and he was looking forward to it. For all that she could sprout some odd things, she had been a good friend to him in Hogwarts; one of the few girls who had liked him for him and not for his fame.

"The moment she tries to claim that one of those Nargels is hindering the ultrasound, we're out of there," Draco muttered darkly.

Harry sighed and decided that replying to that wouldn't be worth it.

* * *

Room 203 had a white door with a garland of herbs nailed to it. Harry was certain that that garland hung there with a specific meaning – maybe to ward off some creatures – but he wasn't about to ask what that particular meaning was.

"Is this the room, uncle?" Teddy asked curiously, studying the garland dubiously.

"Yes, it is," Harry replied and knocked on the door, straining his ears.

Faintly audible footsteps made their way to the door and the white door swung open, the garland landing against it with a soft 'thud'. Luna appeared in the doorway; her long, blonde hair was pinned back by two butterfly pins and tomato earrings dangled in her ears. Her large, blue eyes lightened up when she saw who was her next patient.

"Harry! It's so good to see you again!" she smiled and leant forwards to hug him. "Of course the pixie told me you were coming, but you can never know for certain, right?"

"Right, Luna. It's good to see you again," Harry smiled genuinely and he was gently ushered inside, Teddy and Draco trailing closely behind him.

"You must be Teddy Lupin," Luna murmured and patted Teddy's brown curls.

"Yes, miss," Teddy said in a rather small voice; his attention seemed fixated on Luna's peculiar choice of earrings.

"You can call me Luna," she told him with a bright smile and then her smile turned oddly when she addressed Draco, who eyed her warily. "Draco, it's been a long time."

Since she was held in the dungeons of Malfoy Manor, actually, but none of the adults present were ready to rankle up that particular memory. And that wasn't only because Teddy was present.

"Yes, it has," Draco murmured, inclining his head. At least his tone was neutral, instead of cold.

Luna clapped her hands and her smile turned gentle again. "You're my new patient, Harry. Let's sit down before the earth pixie becomes vexed. They are so easy to annoy you know."

Harry could practically hear Draco swallowing his retort.

Teddy looked equally fascinated and bemused, but he followed them to Luna's desk, where she transfigured a cup into a plush chair for him.

"How long have you been pregnant, Harry?" Luna inquired, while she brought up a file from somewhere in her drawer.

"Five months," Harry replied and discreetly nudged Draco's chin when he mumbled underneath his breath, "What? The pixie didn't tell you?".

"Have you been taking vitamins?" she asked, jotting something down with a bright green quill.

"Yes, every morning." Harry crossed his legs, patting his stomach absentmindedly. His rounded belly had become too large to be casually hidden underneath a shirt and so Draco had casted a No Notice Me charm on it for the time they were in the hospital. It was an odd sensation to feel his baby tumbling around, feel the roundness of his stomach and yet see nothing when he looked down.

"All right, please lay down on that bed there, Harry," Luna smiled and pointed towards the uncomfortable bed placed against the wall. "The charm to check your vitals and that of your baby requires that you lay down. Don't worry, though, the Plunkies can't get into this room."

While Harry made himself comfortable on the hard bed, hearing the paper crinkle underneath him, Teddy asked curiously, "What are Plunkies?"

Draco groaned and came to stand next to Harry, throwing him a suffering glare. Harry responded with a cheeky smile. He preferred Luna's randomness to the stiff posture of some of the other Healers.

"Plunkies are devious little puffballs, who bury themselves in beds and try to kick everyone out who dares to even sit on their bed," Luna answered solemnly and approached Harry, taking her wand out of her pocket.

Teddy blinked and seemed even more confused than before; clearly he was wondering whether he should believe the blonde woman or not.

"Okay, let's start with your vials," Luna announced cheerfully and she murmured a long, complicated spell underneath her breath, waving her wand across Harry's stomach in a zig zag pattern. A piece of parchment popped out of thin air, together with a black quill and the quill started to write something very quickly while a soft purple glow pulsed an inch above Harry's covered stomach.

"Looks like your vitals and that of your baby are as they should be, Harry," she informed him cheerfully after she had studied the parchment thoroughly. "Your spirit guide is doing his job well."

"Thank Merlin," Draco muttered underneath his breath and Harry reached out with his hand, giving Draco's a soft, reassuring squeeze. He knew Draco had been worried about his vitals; the blond knew about his abysmal childhood and had feared that the lack of decent food when he was still a young child would have had a detrimental effect on his health and subsequently his body as well. It was a fear Harry had shared and so relief filled him at Luna's reassurance that everything was all right with both him and their child.

"Do you want to know the gender?" Luna asked smiling and twirled her wand around between her fingers.

"Yes!" Teddy exclaimed immediately, shuffling closer to the bed. "I want to know whether I get a brother or a sister!"

Questioning blue eyes turned towards the couple and even Draco couldn't keep an indulgent smile off his face.

"Yes, sure. It'll make it easier to choose a name," Draco retorted lightly and his hand came down on Harry's shoulder.

"Okay, for this you need to disable the charm for a moment, Harry," Luna murmured; her eyes focused on his stomach. "This particular spell reacts badly to others present."

Harry bit his lip, but nodded and quickly took down the charm. He would put it back on after their visit was finished.

This time Luna created a circle with a star in it above his now bared stomach and tapped his belly gently, while she murmured the charm.

For a moment nothing happened, until suddenly his stomach seemed to light up and a thin, dark rose thread of light rose up and expanded until it formed a rectangular screen. The screen was blurry at first, dark shadows whirling around in it, until it cleared up. A vague outline of some dark mass was nestled in the down right corner.

Luna pointed towards it. "This is your baby. This is the head," she gestured towards a fairly round shape, "and this are the arms and the legs." She fumbled a bit with her wand and the dark haired wizard nearly jumped up startled when a dull 'thump, thump' sound filled the room. "This is your baby's heartbeat."

A large smile spread open on Harry's face and he brought a hand to his mouth; his green eyes glittering when he looked at the screen. Merlin, _that was their baby right there_. Moving in front of their eyes.

Seeing their baby and hearing the heartbeat was enough to forget that he was a potential target at the moment – a thought that sadly was constantly in the back of his mind.

Teddy squinted. "I can't see whether it's a boy or a girl," he complained with a huff.

"Well, Teddy, it looks like you'll be getting a …" Luna studied the screen solemnly. "It looks like you'll be getting a brother!" she concluded, beaming.

"YES!" Teddy cried out, pumping his fist in the air, while a large, excited grin bloomed upon his face. "I'm getting a brother!"

When Harry looked up at Draco, wide eyed, glittering, grey eyes stared back at him in wonder.

"A son, we'll have a son, Harry," he brought out in a choked voice and before Harry could react to that, Draco bent down to fasten their lips together, kissing him fiercely.

Harry treaded his fingers through fine, blond hair and returned the heated kiss; excitement coursing through him. They were going to have a son. _A baby boy_.

Their own baby boy.

* * *

They left Luna's office ten minutes later; the No Notice Me charm back in place over Harry's stomach, a thin package of ultrasounds in Draco's pocket and bright smiles etched on their faces.

"Can I tell grandmother that I'm getting a brother?" Teddy whispered when they entered the lift; his eyes wide in elation. He was practically quivering with excitement.

"Sure, you can tell her." Draco's eyes started to gleam in a peculiar way. "In fact, why don't you tell her tonight? She told us that she has a new puppy and she said she wouldn't mind if you stayed over to play with it!"

"Really?" Teddy grinned and then turned his attention to Harry, who raised his eyebrow. "Can I stay at grandmother's for tonight, uncle?"

"If you ask her nicely, yes," Harry replied amused. At least Draco hadn't lied about the puppy, but the dark haired man still felt slightly guilty for asking Andromeda to babysit again. She didn't mind babysitting her grandson, but still.

A hand came to rest on his buttocks, discreetly squeezing it. "We'll have to celebrate this news tonight," Draco breathed in his ear.

"As if you were planning on doing something else tonight," Harry murmured amused, but interest was stirring in him.

He couldn't say he was against Draco's proposal for tonight.

* * *

Andromeda did agree to babysit Teddy – with far too knowing eyes in Harry's opinion – and so after dinner where Teddy insisted he gave Harry's present (consisting out of tickets to the next Quidditch match – a combined gift of him and his grandmother), the young boy packed his bag and left for his grandmother's home eagerly, after hugging his godfather and patting his stomach carefully.

They located to their bedroom soon after Teddy had departed; they weren't particularly interested in listening to the radio today or read a book.

Draco was already lying in bed when Harry came back from the bathroom, where he had taken a quick shower. Rubbing a towel over his wet hair, he sauntered towards the bed; his belly on clear display as he was only wearing a boxer short.

"Your mum seemed very happy with the news," he muttered dryly and dropped the damp towel on the chair next to their wardrobe.

"She would probably have been just as happy to hear that she would get a granddaughter," Draco smirked and his eyes slowly travelled over Harry's naked body. "In fact, as long as she can spoil it, she doesn't mind whether it's a boy or a girl."

The mattress sunk down a bit underneath Harry's knees when he sat down. "I bet your dad will be over the moon with the news that he's getting a grandson, though," he murmured, quickly raking a hand through his hair to get rid of the last water drops.

Draco's smirk wavered for a bit, but he inclined his head in agreement. "You'll probably rise a lot in his estimation."

Harry snorted and shuffled forwards. "Glad I could do my job as a spouse of a Malfoy," he mumbled sardonically and bent his head to nip at Draco's lower lip.

"I have a present for Mister Malfoy-Potter," Draco muttered against his lips and his hand swept fleetingly across Harry's shoulder.

"Oh? What kind of present?" Harry inquired and sat up when Draco gently pushed against his chest.

The blond riffled through his drawer and Harry couldn't resist the opportunity to trace Draco's spine with his index finger, feeling the man shivering underneath his light touch. When Draco turned to face him again, he had a small box in his hand, wrapped in shiny, blue paper.

"Happy twenty-sixth birthday, Harry," Draco smiled and pressed a quick kiss on his slack lips. "Here, open it."

"The last time you gave me a box like this, you ended up proposing," Harry mumbled; wary amusement dancing in his voice.

"See, only good things come from me giving you boxes," Draco retorted cheekily and nudged Harry's hand. "Go on."

A corner of his mouth quirked into a soft smile, Harry took the present and carefully unwrapped it; he put the wrapping paper on the bed and studied the box. It was a wooden one with odd, wavy lines carved on the lid. Encouraged by shining, grey eyes, the dark haired man slowly opened the box; his stomach filled with anticipation.

His mouth fell open when he saw what the box contained: it was a dark brown, leather wrist band, that could be tied around the wrist with two strong, leather cords. In the middle of the leather strap a purple stone – its purple hues ranging from light, almost white to deep purple like the night sky – sat, carved into the form of a rune: an amethyst. Harry didn't recognize the meaning of the rune, as he had never taken Ancient Runes in Hogwarts, but he was certain that there was a particular meaning attached to it. Around the rune, a thin circle of yet another gemstone was placed. This gemstone felt as smooth as the amethyst, but instead of purple, it looked reddish, mixed with brown spots and white patches. The pattern in which the colours were organised were very familiar and Harry traced the pattern with his finger; it had the pattern of a snakeskin.

"What kind of stone is this?" he murmured fascinated; the gemstone felt cool underneath the pad of his fingertip.

"It's a tumbled red snakeskin agate," Draco replied and carefully plucked the leather band out of the box, holding it out in front of Harry.

"What do those stones mean? And that rune?" Harry inquired, studying the stones with sharp eyes.

"The rune is Algiz or Eohl; both the rune and the gemstones provide protection. The stones also provide power," Draco explained; easily removing the knot out of the leather cords. He hesitated briefly. "I put a Tracking charm on it as well. I know you don't like charms like that, but I would be more comfortable if I knew you were wearing it at all times. You never know what might happen and especially now you need the extra protection. Will you please wear this for me?"

A couple of years ago Harry would have protested, refusing to wear something that would be able to track him like he was a dog or a young child. But he had learnt the value of compromise and in the situation he was in now, everything that could provide extra protection was appreciated.

As answer, Harry offered his left wrist and Draco gifted him with a grateful smile.

"Thank you," Harry said when the cool, leather band was put around his wrist; the gemstones shone in the soft sunlight that peeped through their curtains. Cooling charms kept the temperature in the bedroom bearable, but the oppressive heat outside could not be ignored.

A pale finger caressed the amethyst slowly. "Thank you for accepting my gift," Draco whispered and leant forwards to press their lips together in a tender kiss.

Warm lips trailed over his jaw to his neck, underneath his left ear where Draco started mouthing at a particular spot that never failed to make Harry weak in his knees.

"You know, we're all alone now," Draco murmured and his hand trailed up over Harry's shoulder, raising the minuscule hairs there, before dipping down, stroking his side languidly. "Mimmy is back in Hogwarts and Teddy is at Aunt Andromeda's house."

"Hm, that's true. Anything in specific in mind?" Harry teased, bringing his own hands up to stroke Draco's back and firm shoulders.

"Well, I was thinking of less clothes for one thing," Draco hummed and both hands slipped to Harry's boxers, tugging at the cloth insistently.

Steadying himself on his hands by placing them slightly behind his back, Harry lifted his hips, allowing the blond to remove his underwear. A soft breeze made the curtains flutter and sweep over his naked body, causing him to shiver slightly at the unexpected coolness.

Draco made quick work of getting rid of his own clothes and after rummaging through the drawer to find the half empty tube of lubrication, he crawled back on the bed and carefully pressed Harry backwards, until he was laying down against a small tower of plush and comfortable pillows.

Harry opened his arms and spread his legs wide enough for his husband to slip in the provided space; their thighs brushed against each other, their groins slid over each other and a soft, almost mewl like sound escaped Harry's mouth when Draco bent his head to lick his nipple; his tongue swirling around the hardening bud insistently, while his thumb rubbed over the other one, assuring that both nipples were paid attention to.

"Hm," Harry sighed and tilted his head to the left when Draco's lips left a searing path from his wet nipple to his neck. "You're going to leave a bruise behind," he warned him, slightly breathless when those devious lips started sucking viciously in his neck.

"So? Let everyone see that you're taken," Draco muttered sullenly, but tongued the sore spot in a silent apology.

"Yes, because the golden ring and the big announcement in all newspapers weren't obvious enough," Harry quipped sarcastically and threw one leg over Draco's thigh.

"Apparently they aren't, because I still catch people trying to flirt with you," Draco growled and then his breath hitched when Harry bit his collarbone softly.

"Those are just interested in my fame," Harry retorted and let his nails trail over Draco's chest, over the faint scars – the remaining proof of their fight in the bathroom in their sixth year – until he reached his lower stomach and started to teasingly draw patterns over the sensitive skin there. His tongue traced the outline of the faint bite mark. "Shouldn't I be more worried about the men _and women_ trying to get into your pants?"

Draco scoffed; both of his hands cupped Harry's stomach, caressing the skin lovingly. "Please, as if I would ever be interested in someone else when I have you."

Harry smiled, his cheeks heating up a bit in reaction to the implied compliment. For all that Draco was eager to show everyone that Harry was taken, he wasn't that fond of saying anything that involved talking about his feelings. Every now and then, though, Draco's walls went down and he allowed his husband to get a look at his heart.

Their mouths found each other again; first in a languid kiss, their lips breaking apart before they connected again, and then slowly the kiss started heating up, their tongues sneaking past bruising lips and playing with each other: sucking and stroking, while teeth nipped at swollen lower lips.

Hands trailed over their bodies, slightly damp with sweat, igniting every cell on their path. Harry's thumb flicked over Draco's pale rose nipple, while Draco's fingers drew teasing circles on his chest and rounded stomach.

Their hips bucked against each other and soft groans escaped their throats when they slid against each other.

Harry automatically spread his legs wider when Draco slid down, being mindful of his stomach, and the blond started to leave feather light kisses on his stomach, while his fingers trailed up and down over Harry's cock, teasing the tip of it with his thumb, making the dark haired man shiver in excitement. His breathing sped up slightly when his half lidded, green eyes caught sight of Draco opening the tube, coating three fingers in the clear gel like substance.

"You ready?" Draco asked; his voice rough in his arousal. His grey eyes glittered feverishly in the dying sunlight and a rose sheen dusted his fine cheekbones; his hand kept up the slow pumping of Harry's leaking prick.

"Hm, go on," Harry encouraged him and he threw his head back with a sharp intake of his breath when the first finger breached his entrance, slipping past the tense muscles, gently coaxing him to open up. It had been a while since they last had the time to shag and it took the pregnant man a couple of seconds to relax his anal muscles completely.

A second finger slipped inside past the first one and Harry let out a shuddering breath at the feeling of the fingers spreading him, preparing him, sliding across his inner walls, which rippled around the invasion in response. No matter how many times they did it, it continued to feel odd in the beginning.

Draco rose up and started kissing him again to distract him from the feeling of being stretched. "You okay?" he murmured against his lips and his fingers slipped in further; the tips of his fingers brushed against Harry's prostate, sending a tingling sensation through his lower body.

Harry's fingers clenched around his upper arms and Draco touched his prostate again, sending yet another bolt of pleasure through him. "Yeah, yeah, I'm okay."

It didn't take long for Draco to start entering him with three fingers, making Harry moan at the sensation of being stretched even more; the slight burn of his muscles being forced to protract around the invading fingers coupled with his prostate being massaged, created an interesting sensation that had him hovering on the edge and had him pressing his hips up, trying to seek more contact.

When Draco pulled back abruptly, Harry couldn't stop the disappointed whine falling off his lips and he flushed in embarrassment at the knowing smirk on the blond's face.

"I was thinking," Draco started breathlessly while he coated his angry looking red cock liberally with the gel like substance, "that you could ride me this time. I like how you look when you ride me." His eyes burned with smouldering lust and he licked his lips; his cock bobbing a bit when he shifted. His hands trailed up and down over Harry's thighs, leaving them slick with the lubrication.

Harry's cheeks heated up in embarrassment, but he nodded; he was certain lust was clearly written in his eyes as well.

They shifted around on the large bed, the sheets lying crumpled near the foot end, until Draco was the one laying against the pillows, his legs slightly spread, and Harry settled himself on top of him, steadying himself on pale thighs while he slowly and carefully lowered himself on his husband, a hand around Draco's cock to point it at his entrance and he hissed when Draco entered him; his cock stretching him more than his fingers had done, filling him completely, leaving a slight burning sensation around his entrance. He kept sinking down without pausing until he bottomed out and sat fully on Draco's lap, with Draco's hands clenched around his hips and his hot, hard cock burning in his channel.

Clammy hands wandered up and down over Harry's trembling thighs. "You okay, Harry?" Draco asked with a tight voice and Harry felt him tremble underneath him. Clearly he was having trouble keeping himself still.

Harry offered him a faint smile and slowly started to move; first rocking back and forth until he got used to the feeling of being full again, and then he started to move up and down, letting Draco's cock slip out until only his wide head remained inside before he sunk down again, clenching his muscles every time he let gravity drag him back down. With every clench of his inner muscles, he felt Draco's cock twitch inside of him in response.

Pleasured moans and groans tumbled out of their mouths when they settled into a steady rhythm and hands kept caressing over each other's body, not minding the sweat that was now starting to coat their bodies. Harry let out a high pitched mewl sound when Draco shifted his hips a bit and with that single action, he came into full contact with Harry's prostate, ramming against it every time Harry sunk down, causing lightning bolts of pleasure to erupt behind Harry's closed eyelids.

"Oh god, Draco," Harry moaned when Draco started stroking his cock; his hot hand sliding up and down, squeezing his prick, nearly overloading him with pleasure.

"You have no idea how hot you look right now, Harry," Draco murmured; his eyes glazed over with desire and Harry felt himself warm underneath the heated stare. "How sexy you look, moving like that, taking me inside. Fuck, I love that …" he broke off with a moan when Harry braced himself against his thighs and started to move faster, taking Draco deeper inside of him.

"You love wh-what?" Harry brought out through gasps and his arms and thighs trembled every time he forced himself to move up.

"Love that you're mine, completely mine," Draco continued breathlessly and his hips started to move faster as well, pressing against Harry's prostate with every push. "Love how fucking sexy you look, carrying my baby. You're fucking perfect."

The heat boiled inside of him, coiling deep inside of his stomach and his orgasm swept over him, a broken moan pulled from him by it and he coated Draco's stomach and hand with his come; his heart beat fast; the muscles in his arms and legs felt like rubber. Draco followed him soon afterwards, filling him up with hot, sticky fluid, coating his inner walls, their hips stuttering weakly, and Harry thought he hadn't seen anything as beautiful as Draco when he became undone. His pale face was flushed with pleasure, his breath escaping him in short gasps and his half lidded eyes seemed to burn straight through Harry's.

With a weak groan, Harry lifted himself up and fell down next to Draco, whose hands kept wandering over his body soothingly; the aftershock of Harry's climax causing his muscles to tremble.

A murmured spell made sure that they were clean – at least as much as they could be without taking a shower. Neither of them were in the mood to get up and take a shower, though.

"I love you," Draco whispered in his ear and his hand settled on Harry's belly, which was pressed against his side.

Harry smiled weakly and pressed a kiss against Draco's cheek. "I love you too," he murmured.

Not soon after that they let themselves be taken away to dream world, while the soft sound of crickets chirping filled the night.

* * *

The following day they were rudely awoken by a Floo call of Kingsley, who had never looked so grimly before.

The killer had made an eight victim in the woods in Pinner. While Harry received the gruesome details from Ron, his hands covered his belly, which was hidden underneath the charm.

He would be six months pregnant soon and in spite of his confidence in the past few months, he couldn't help but wonder fearfully whether he would be the next victim.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's note: I'm really happy with the response I'm receiving for this story, guys, and I'm definitely interested in reading your speculations as to why the killer is committing these crimes :) A lot of you come close to the truth actually ;)
> 
> Thank you for the kudos and comments!
> 
> Warnings: slight violence near the ending of the chapter; MPreg; smidgen of suspense
> 
> Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter. J.K. Rowling owns it.
> 
> Please enjoy this chapter!
> 
> Only two chapters after this one to go and the next chapter will contain the confrontation with the killer. Please let me know what you thought of this chapter in a review. Should you spot any mistakes, please point them out to me so that I can fix them.

_Chapter 5_

Warm sunlight filtered through the large windows in Kingsley's office, illuminating the various dust particles floating in the air.

A pair of concerned, dark eyes studied the Auror in front of the desk, while fingers were clenched around the most recent newspaper.

"The press has got wind of the serial killer," Kingsley announced with an exhausted sigh and threw the thick newspaper on his desk. The headline "Serial Killer Targeting Pregnant Men?" was splashed across the front page in bold letters, assuring that all attention was immediately drawn towards the article

"That explains the presence of the news reporters in the Atrium," Harry muttered darkly and suck down in the chair, grimacing when he couldn't immediately find a good spot. Discreetly he rubbed over his side, feeling his son kick him softly.

"I can't decide whether this article is a good thing or not," Kingsley said with a grimace. "On the one hand, we don't need unnecessary panic, but on the other hand, maybe with this article pregnant men will be more careful when they go out."

"Does the press have any specific details?" Harry inquired, throwing the crumpled newspaper a quick glance. He had nearly overslept today, so he hadn't had the chance yet to read the Daily Prophet.

"No, just that a serial killer is going around, targeting pregnant wizards," Kingsley replied, raking a hand over his head. "I don't think there has been a leak in our department. Most likely the press managed to be present at one of the murder scenes."

Harry kept quiet, already calculating the best route to return home without having pesky news reporters harassing him. Apparating was out of the question entirely, thanks to the baby, so the Floo network was his safest bet. He couldn't use the ones downstairs, though, and the one in his office wasn't connected to his house.

"Have you made any progress so far?" Kingsley questioned and there was the faint hint of hope in his voice.

Harry grimaced and shook his head. "All we know so far is that we are searching for a blonde woman, who lives near or in London, judging by the places where the bodies have been dumped. The last victim didn't have any evidence of the killer on him, so we're stuck for the moment." He clenched his hand in anger. "We asked the families of the victim whether they knew any blonde woman who had been in contact with the men, but they all claim that they never heard the victims talking about a blonde woman."

"So basically we're at a dead end, unless the killer is stupid enough to leave another clue behind," Kingsley summarized sourly.

Harry nodded and rubbed a hand over his forehead. This was by far the strangest and most infuriating case he had handled so far. How could one woman manage to kill so many men without leaving much evidence behind? Were they missing something?

The chair creaked softly when Kingsley leant back. "I take it you're here to announce that you're taking your leave?" he asked dryly.

"Yes, sir, I've entered the sixth month now and Draco and I decided that it would be safer if I stayed at home now," Harry replied and unconsciously he rubbed his belly again.

"All right, you'll be staying at home until the baby is one years old, right?" Kingsley inquired and his voice softened a bit.

"Yes, if that's not a problem, sir," Harry answered self-consciously. He knew it was a bad time to stay away from work so long, but the circumstances didn't give him any leeway.

Kingsley waved his hand dismissively. "No problem; I already filled in the paperwork."

"If you don't mind my asking: what did you fill in as a reason for my absence?" Harry questioned curiously. They could hardly admit that Harry was pregnant. They were hoping to keep it quiet until the baby was born, to avoid unwanted attention – from both the killer and the press.

"I wrote that you have been in a serious accident, which requires you to rest for at least sixteen months, as your magic was put under severe strain," Kingsley answered lightly. "I doubt the Ministry would want their Golden Boy to die from magical depletion, so they won't bother you about it."

"Thank you, sir," Harry smiled gratefully. He couldn't keep his baby a secret for his entire life, naturally, but by the time it would leak out that he had a child, the Ministry would be too embarrassed to not have sent someone to check up on him – as required by law when an Auror stayed home for more than two months – to give him a sanction for it. Sometimes there were advantages to being famous.

"Take care of yourself, Potter," Kingsley smiled and shook his hand.

"Thanks, sir," Harry murmured and left the office, hiding a grimace when his son gave him an unexpected harsh kick. The baby had become more active the last few weeks and he was only lulled to sleep by Harry walking around or Draco talking to him when they were lying in bed.

"Harry! Were you with Kingsley?" Hermione asked and said a hasty goodbye to a man with purple glasses and greying hair.

He nodded and waited until she had reached him before he continued his trek to the elevator. "Yeah, had to tell him that I'm staying home after today," he murmured, keeping a wary eye on his surroundings.

She nodded in understanding, pushing a stubborn lock out of her face. "Ah yes, you told me about that," she muttered and shifted the large pile of files from one arm to the other one. "How are you feeling?"

"Do you need me to carry some of those?" He nodded towards the thick pile; some of the papers were already threatening to slip out of their respective files. "And I'm feeling fine. Back is hurting a bit, though."

"No, you don't need to carry any of them. Aside from the fact that I'm capable of carrying them on my own, Draco would hex me if I allowed you to carry these," she joked, but her warm, brown eyes were alight with apprehension.

He rolled his eyes and leant his back against the wall, watching how two wizards and a witch exited the elevator, before three other wizards joined them – one looked particularly ruffled. "Draco overreacts too much," he huffed and brushed some stray strands of his hair out of his eyes.

Ever since they had discovered that he was pregnant, the blond had been adamant that the dark haired Auror didn't carry anything heavy or even something which had sharp corners. He appreciated the worry, but he hadn't suddenly become a fragile, porcelain doll that needed to be bubble wrapped for his protection.

"Ah, I think it's cute in an odd, overbearing way," Hermione chuckled and her eyes twinkled. "He's just worried about you. You can't really blame him."

"Wait until Ron starts acting this way; we'll see if you still find it cute then," Harry remarked snidely.

Hermione wrinkled her nose and she looked apprehensively. Her eyes flitted to the display which announced on which floor they were and she sighed. "This is my stop. I'll see you this weekend?"

"I promised, didn't I?" he retorted amused and she gave him a playful swat against his arm, before she left the elevator.

One floor later, it was his turn to exit and he walked straight to his office, giving nods in recognition to people who murmured an absent 'Hello'.

Draco looked up the second Harry entered the room and closed the door behind him.

"Did you tell Kingsley?" he demanded, putting down his quill. Some faint smudges of the ink decorated his hand.

"Yes, I told him; he has already filled out the paperwork," Harry replied and sat down at his desk, pulling the first file on the towering pile to him.

"What does the paperwork say?" the blond asked suspiciously.

"That my magic was depleted during one of the missions and that I need at least sixteen months to get it back completely," Harry answered and raised an eyebrow.

"Are you going to finish this day?" Draco looked quite disapprovingly.

Harry rolled his eyes and pointed with his finger towards the floor. "There is a bunch of reporters waiting downstairs to get a scoop on the murder case. I don't know about you, but I'm not planning on wrestling my way through that."

"Well, at least it took them quite some time now, before they managed to get some news about it." Draco scowled and rolled his shoulders. He threw his husband a disapproving look. "Don't work too much."

"It's not like I'm going to get exhausted by sitting at a desk," Harry muttered underneath his breath and turned his attention to the testimony of the latest victim's father.

This might be his last day at work for now, but that didn't mean he was about to slack off.

* * *

The wind howled around the house and the soft clattering of the rain hitting the windows filled the house. October had announced itself with cold wind, strong gusts and rainy days.

"How does it feel, having to spend your days at home?" Andromeda asked, taking a sip from her tea.

She and Harry were seated at the kitchen table while Teddy was working on his homework in the living room. Occasionally they could hear Teddy cooing to the new kitten they had adopted – Ginny's cat had had six kittens and she wasn't able to keep them all, so she had asked Harry whether he could adopt one. Teddy had nearly jumped up and down in glee when he was told that he could choose a kitten from the nest. Draco hadn't been fond of the idea at first, but he was slowly warming up to the grey fuzz ball, which had been named Dagda by Teddy. Apparently he had found the name in one of his books and the name had stuck in his memory.

As long as Teddy finished his homework, Harry couldn't be bothered to tell him off for being distracted by the kitten.

He groaned and stirred the spoon in his own tea, scowling at it. "It's quite annoying actually. I never realised how bored I would become by being confined to this house. It's a good thing I can still visit Hermione and Ron, because otherwise I would go stir crazy."

"It's only for a couple more months," she soothed him. "Then you can go out again."

"I know," he sighed and rubbed over his stomach. Since he didn't go into public anymore, he had forgone wearing the charm and his belly was displayed to everyone who entered his house. His stomach had grown quite big already; he was seven months pregnant now and the baby was as active as ever. "It's a good thing I can distract myself by working on the nursery," he added and took a sip from his tea.

"And my nephew doesn't complain about you working in the room?" Her dark eyes – shared by most Blacks – regarded him amused.

Harry huffed and waved his hand. "Draco knows better now than to annoy me. If I need to stay in this house, I have to do something. Plus it's not like I'm doing anything too strenuous. Narcissa helped me with putting up the bed and the wardrobe."

"I bet she loves the fact that she's becoming a grandmother soon," the older woman smiled.

After the war Andromeda and Narcissa had reconnected, albeit with a lot of strenuous silence and stilted conversations in the beginning. They would probably never be close sisters after all those years of being separated, but they were working on their bond and were able to talk to each other more easily now.

"Yeah, she does," Harry replied and his smile was soft. "She's been a great help so far."

Narcissa usually visited him three times a week; both to just give him some company to talk to and to help him with the nursery. She was just as bad as her son in insisting that Harry didn't tire himself out.

He couldn't be angry at her, though. He appreciated her company more than he ever thought he would; she would never be able to fill the hole his mother's absence had created, but aside from Molly, Narcissa was the closest to a mother figure he had in his life. Even more than Molly, as she was busy with her own sons and daughter, while Narcissa only had one son to spend attention on – two after her admission a couple of years ago that she considered Harry as her second son.

"And Lucius? How does he react to your pregnancy?" Andromeda asked curiously; a glint of apprehension lurking in her eyes.

Lucius was a subject they both tended to avoid whenever it was possible.

Harry gave her a feeble smile. "He's … accepting as much as he can be," he murmured, staring into his tea. "He likes the idea of becoming a grandfather, of seeing the Malfoy line continued, but I think he absolutely despises the fact that _I_ am the one who makes it possible."

"Well, my dear brother-in-law has always been an idiot," Andromeda snorted and shook her head. "Thank Merlin my sister was involved in Draco's upbringing, so that he didn't end up like his father."

They both didn't mention that Draco had been on track to becoming just like his father.

"Uncle Harry, grandmother, look! Dagda has a print of a paw on his paw!" Teddy rushed into the kitchen, cradling the grey haired kitten in his arms. At least he knew how to handle the vulnerable kitten carefully.

"Look, here." Teddy presented the front paw of Dagda almost reverently, pointing at a black haired spot that looked remarkably well like a paw. Dagda let it happen; his big, green eyes staring at the adults solemnly.

"That's cute," Andromeda remarked with a smile and softly caressed the paw, receiving a tiny mewl in response.

"I thought you were working on your homework?" Harry commented amused and leant forwards to pet Dagda's head, which earnt him a heavy purr. "Oomph." He abruptly leant back in his chair and rubbed his stomach with a wince. The baby's kick had been a lot stronger than he expected; this one actually _hurt_ somewhat.

His godson's attention was quickly diverted from the cat to Harry. "Is the baby kicking?" he asked with glimmering eyes.

Silently Harry nodded, quirking an eye in amusement when Teddy reached out with his hand and looked at him hesitatingly.

"Can I feel?" he asked; his big eyes already focused on Harry's belly.

"Sure," Harry murmured and he hadn't even finished agreeing, before Teddy pressed his hand against his stomach. His eyes – a cerulean blue this time – widened when the baby kicked harshly against his hand.

"My brother is strong," Teddy murmured amazed and carefully patted Harry's belly.

"You can say that," Harry snorted and took another sip of his tea. He raised an eyebrow. "Is your homework done?"

Teddy pouted and shook his head.

"Go on then," Harry chuckled and dejectedly Teddy shuffled back to the living room, cradling Dagda against his chest.

"Looks like he's really enthusiastic about becoming a big brother," Andromeda chuckled, placing her cup on the table.

"He talks to the baby as well before he goes to sleep," Harry murmured with a smile.

"That's adorable," she commented. "Now, do you need my help with preparing dinner?"

Harry nodded and stood up to retrieve the vegetables that needed to be chopped. He could do it on his own, but having someone to talk to during the preparation was always more fun.

* * *

If Draco kept his word, he would be home in fifteen minutes. Harry stepped back from the cooking pots and casted a charm on it that would keep the food warm without it getting burnt. The table was set, so he just wiped his hands off on a kitchen towel and went to check on Teddy.

"How is it going here?" he asked curiously, leaning with a hand against the door.

"Almost done, uncle," Teddy replied absentmindedly, writing something down with a heavy frown on his forehead.

Harry nodded. "Draco will be here in fifteen minutes, so make sure you wash your hands on time," he reminded his godson and returned to the kitchen.

A demanding mewl made him turn around again. "Ah, you need food?" he asked Dagda, who had followed him into the kitchen.

Dagda sat down on his little butt, curling his fuzzy tail next to him and showed his tiny, white teeth when he let out another sharp "Meow!"

Harry chuckled and shook his head, but made him way over to the cabinet where they kept the cat food, the plate for the cat and a fork to get the food on the plate. While he was dumping the content of the small can on the plate, spreading the food a bit over the plate, Dagda kept brushing against his legs, letting him know every five seconds that he was hungry.

"Yes, yes, here's your food," he muttered and bent down as much as he could to place the red plate on the floor.

Dagda attacked his food as if he hadn't eaten in days.

Coming up again with a huff – it was becoming harder to bend down with his growing belly – he grabbed the empty can, stuffed his wand in the back of his pocket – a habit he had grown into after years of working as an Auror – and went to throw the can into the garbage can, which had been put outside in the garden to avoid having the smell permeating the kitchen.

It was already becoming fairly dark; the heavy rain clouds certainly didn't help in keeping the darkness away. The garbage bag was rustling in the wind and the wind howled through the trees, causing some of the branches to sway.

Shivering in just his sweater and jeans, he quickly threw the empty can into the garbage can and turned around to go back into the kitchen.

The snapping of a branch made him stiffen and come to an abrupt halt. He breathed out shallowly through his mouth and pricked up his ears, waiting to see whether he would pick up another sound.

He almost completely relaxed again – he must be becoming paranoid from all his missions as an Auror; it wouldn't do to turn out like Moody – when the brief sound of crunching leaves reached his ears again and he froze. Heart beating madly in his chest, he slowly turned around, squinting through the darkness at the trees removed the furthest from his house.

Was someone there? Or was he just hearing an animal passing by?

Keeping his hand on his wand, ready to draw it out at the slightest hint of danger, he approached the treeline warily, keeping his senses open. When he was almost near the trees, he stopped and listened. He could hear the faint buzz sound of the magic that was keeping the new wards erected; he could hear the wind howling through the trees.

"Hello? Is someone there?" he called out hesitatingly.

He whirled to the right when another rustling sound, as if that of robes on leaves, disrupted the silence. That couldn't be an animal passing through.

"Lumos," he whispered and the tip of his wand glowed brightly, illuminating the large trees in front of him. Somewhere above him an owl hooted and flew away. He took a step closer to the trees and his eyes widened when the light of his wand fell on a dark blue robe. The robe shifted, proving that someone was wearing it and the wind wasn't simply playing with it. A robe meant it was either a wizard or a witch then.

"Hello? Can I help you?" he asked warily and lifted his wand higher. He squinted when he noticed some dark splatters on the robe. "Are you hurt?"

His house was built right at the edge of a small forest; had someone walked off the path and wandered to this side of the forest?

The person, whose face was turned away from him and hidden behind a large hood, muttered something too low for his ears to pick up and shuffled backwards, seemingly frightened.

"Hey, I'm not going to hurt you," he murmured soothingly and took another careful step closer. "You look hurt – why don't you come with me to my house, so that I can fix you up? Or I can call a Healer if that is what you prefer?"

The figure seemed to shake his – or her? It was hard to make out what gender they were in the dark and with the large robe covering their form – head and stumble backwards.

"Look, you're safe here. The wards will protect you," Harry reassured the person and slowly approached him, making certain not to make any sudden movements. From the skittish way the person moved, Harry assumed he or she had been attacked. It would certainly explain the blood on their clothes.

"We need to take care of that wound you have there," he told the person, jerking his chin to the blood splatters. "Otherwise it will get infected and that will make it only worse."

With the next couple of steps he took, he left the wards; the leaves crunched underneath his shoes when he reached out with his hand to coax the injured person to come closer while the buzz of the wards served as background noise.

Something glinted in the moonlight and Harry let out a startled shout when a knife was swept past him, catching his arm and dragging a deep cut into it, before he managed to stumble back. His attacker leapt forwards and his heart thudded painfully when he realised in a split second that the person was aiming _for his stomach_.

Instinct took over and he heard himself shout a curse that made the ground explode in front of him; several stones exploded, its sharp shards flying against his attacker, who let out a strangled moan of pain when the pieces caught the skin.

The only thought that went through his mind was: _protect his baby_.

With the attacker distracted by the shards of stones, he quickly turned around and stumbled back into the protection of the wards, gasping loudly at the searing pain in his arm, which flared up when he put his arm around his stomach.

He was barely behind the wards when the magic gave off a loud, sizzling sound and the wards glowed a menacingly green. His attacker had thrown their body into the wards in a feeble attempt to grab him and the magic reacted by burning their skin, searing layers off it.

The mysterious person let out one last scream of rage and frustration before they Apparated away.

Breathing harshly, his heart thumping like made, Harry stood in shock in his garden; his wand trembled in his grip and he looked down at his stomach, swallowing with difficulty.

 _He had_ _nearly been stabbed in his stomach_. _He could have lost his baby_.

Fear wrapped its ugly tendrils around him, squeezing tightly around his lungs.

* * *

Somehow he managed to stumble back into the kitchen without tripping or falling down, which couldn't exactly be attributed to his legs, which felt like they consisted out of jelly instead of muscles and bones. His mind reeled with what had happened just now and he was barely aware of the way his wounded arm was clutching around his stomach in which his baby was moving anxiously.

"Harry, where were you? You were taking an awful long time to … What the hell happened to you?" Draco asked harshly, once his eyes fell on the large gash in Harry's left arm. He was frozen in the process of removing his red Auror robes.

Harry leant against the door, fumbling with the lock, and he stared at the blond numbly. "I think … I think I was just attacked by the serial killer."

His legs gave out and he sunk down on the floor; shivers raking through his body.

He wasn't safe anymore.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's note: I'm tired as hell and stressed out beyond what's normal due to my exams, but I have to say, guys, that your reviews always make me smile. It's really good to see that my story is being liked :)
> 
> Thanks for the kudos and comments!
> 
> Warnings: suspense; violence; violence towards a pregnant person; blood; wounds; forced birth; life threatening situation; darkish Draco? Not sure how to name that, considering he has his reasons. I think those are the most important warnings.
> 
> Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter. J.K. Rowling owns it
> 
> I hope you'll like this chapter!
> 
> For some reason I seem incapable of writing a decent fighting scene *grimaces* So what do you think of it? A lot of you came very close to the killer :) Next chapter will be the last one and will explain the reasons why she killed those men.
> 
> Please let me know what you thought about it in a review! Should you spot any mistakes, please point them out to me.
> 
> See you all in the next - and last - chapter!

_Chapter 6_

"Your arm is healed now, Harry. Looks like the wound wasn't that deep; you must have a very good protective spirit with you," Luna told him solemnly and retracted her wand.

Harry bent his arm, feeling the freshly healed wound twinge a bit. "Thank you, Luna," he murmured and tried to ignore the way his arms kept trembling.

"And the baby? Is everything all right with him?" Draco demanded to know and his hands felt heavy on Harry's shoulders.

Teddy was hovering near the doorway, his eyes filled with worry and apprehension.

"Yes, don't worry," Luna murmured, gently waving her wand over Harry's stomach. "He's just a bit startled, but nothing is wrong with him."

"Thank Merlin," Draco muttered and Harry could practically feel the tension bleeding out of his body.

Kingsley stepped forwards; a heavy frown etched onto his forehead. "Can we talk, Potter?"

Harry nodded silently and glanced at Teddy; this wasn't exactly a conversation suitable for a child.

"Teddy, why don't you show me your new kitten? Harry told me it's adorable," Luna suddenly spoke up and after pocketing her wand, she casually wandered over to the young boy, who looked quite confused but acquiesced.

As soon as the door fell shut behind them, Harry turned back to Kingsley. "I don't know how she managed to find this house. I think it might have just been coincidence."

"Coincidence or not, the fact remains that the killer now knows you are pregnant," Kingsley retorted and crossed his arms. "Tell me what happened."

"I was throwing away some garbage when I heard a sound in the back of the garden," Harry started and rubbed absentmindedly over his healed arm. "When I approached the trees, I saw someone in robes just behind the wards. There was blood on the robes, so I thought the person was hurt. Just when I left the wards, she attacked me with a knife and tried to follow me back into the wards, but the magic stopped her and she fled."

"Did you manage to see her face?" Draco asked urgently.

Harry shook his head, biting his lip. "No, she kept her hood on the entire time."

"You said there was blood on her robes," Kingsley started, but was interrupted by a Patronus in the form of an eagle. He turned to address it. "Yes?"

It turned out to be the Patronus of Abigail. "Sir, we have just received news that a new body has been found in West Ham Park. Someone who works in the park found him."

"That's close to our house," Draco murmured alarmed.

"That explains the blood on the robes," Kingsley said grimly and told the patiently waiting eagle Patronus, "I'll be right there."

"Shall I come with you, sir?" Draco asked, though the reluctance in his voice was apparent.

"No, no need. You stay here with Potter. I'll brief you tomorrow," Kingsley told him and nodded towards Harry. "Take care, Potter, and be extra careful." Hastily he left the house to Apparate to the new crime scene.

"I can't believe you were this close to the killer." Draco shuddered and walked over to the fireplace, looking very pale. "Why did you not stay inside the wards?"

Harry swallowed, berating himself for being so stupid. "I don't know; I just thought that she had been attacked and was too afraid to come near me. Before I realised it, I had left the wards and she attacked me."

"And you're certain it's her?" Draco grimaced.

A hollow laugh escaped Harry's throat. "She was aiming for my stomach, Draco. I doubt that it was just a random person trying to attack me."

"How does the killer know you're pregnant, though? Not many people know about it," Draco pressed and his fingers tightened in his sleeve. "Or was it just a lucky guess of her? She was running away from the crime and landed behind our house and heard you?"

"I'm not certain," Harry admitted. "I somehow doubt it was just a lucky guess of her. The way she tried to catch my attention by making sounds feels too … deliberate. As if she already knew I was pregnant before I came near her and she was just trying to coax me."

"If she already knew about it, then the question remains how did she find out?" Draco furrowed his eyebrows. "The only ones who currently know that you are expecting are our family, Weasley, Granger, Lovegood, Shacklebolt and that Healer, Thompson. Do you think one of them is the killer?"

"I very much doubt Kingsley is behind this," Harry told him dryly. "Or our family or Ron and Hermione. None of them have blond hair."

"Lovegood does," Draco said softly; his eyes glinting with an odd intent.

"Luna is not behind this," Harry said sharply and glowered. "She would never do such a thing!"

"Then who else? We know that our killer is a woman and has blonde hair! Apparently she also knows that you're pregnant – the only one who fits that description is Lovegood!" Draco snapped, straightening his back.

"Are you seriously suspecting Luna of being the killer?" Harry asked incredulously. "Damn it, Draco, use your common sense! Luna isn't capable of killing someone!"

"How would you know …"

"I'll let you see my mind, Draco, if that would set you at ease," Luna's soft, dreamy voice broke into their argument and they whipped their heads around to stare at her.

"What?" Draco said shocked, blinking.

"You can look at my mind," Luna repeated and walked further into the room. "I have nothing to hide. I know how protective you are of Harry – just like unicorn fathers by the way – so if you need to look at my mind to be set at ease, I don't mind." Her gentle smile never wavered; she didn't seem upset at all that she had just been accused of being a coldblooded murderer.

"How many killers are willing to let someone use Legilimency on them, hm, Draco?" Harry couldn't help but snidely ask.

Draco deflated like a balloon and he rubbed tiredly over his face. "No, it's fine; I believe you," he replied exhausted.

Luna cocked her head. "You're sure?"

"Yes, I'm sure."

She nodded; her smile turning serene. "Okay. Dagda would have known if I had been a bad person," she told them solemnly. "Cats have a special sense for that, you know."

"Where is Teddy, Luna?" Harry asked, having taken notice of the fact that his godson was absent.

"I've given him some of the food you had prepared; he was hungry," Luna answered and twirled a blonde lock around her finger. "And we can't have the Spimkes feeding on his hunger. Not very nice creatures to have in your home."

"I'm sure of that," Harry murmured; the corners of his mouth twitching in a faint smile.

"I'll be going now then," she announced with a bright smile. "I'll see you next month for your next check-up, Harry!"

"This is starting to become very dangerous," Draco murmured once they heard the front door close behind the humming woman.

Harry sighed and stood up, biting back a groan when his back protested. "You do have a point, though. It has to be someone who knows I'm pregnant, but everyone we told either don't fit the description or just aren't capable of murdering someone."

"Maybe it's not someone who knows us personally," Draco said slowly, tapping a finger against his chin. "Maybe someone overheard us when we were in the hospital or managed to look at your file."

"You mean, the killer is someone who was either present in the hospital during our visits or works at the hospital?" Harry asked, mostly musing to himself.

That shed a whole new light on the case. The doors had been closed during their visits and wards were in place to assure that nobody could listen in on conversations, so it couldn't have been someone who had been visiting someone in the hospital. In other words, it had to be someone who had access to his file; was the one they were searching a Healer or a Mediwitch?

"A Healer or a Mediwitch," Draco confirmed his musings and looked faintly sick. "I can't believe we never took into consideration the way the cuts are made. How could we have not noticed that they were made by an expert?"

"Mostly because all Healers and Mediwizards and – witches take an oath to never harm another person, unless in self-defence," Harry murmured. It was the perfect way of remaining undetected: who would ever suspect a person who had taken an oath on their magic to never harm another being?

"But they take an oath on their magic," Draco remarked what Harry had been thinking. "How is that woman able to kill nine people without her magic acting against her?"

"Maybe the decay of her magic is sustained by something else?" Harry suggested, trying to recall everything he had read about taking an oath on magic. He had researched that particular branch of magic weeks before he and Draco had taken a Bonding Oath when they got married. Their magic wouldn't kill them, but it would severely punish them if they ever hurt the other one, be it emotionally or physically.

"Dark Arts?" Draco's eyes darkened.

"Most likely." Harry nodded with a grimace.

"I'll let the others know tomorrow that we will need to investigate the hospital," Draco murmured and crossed the room to Harry, wrapping his arms around the dark haired man. "Look, I know you don't like being cooped up, but please, promise me that you stay in the wards until the baby is born. I can't deal with another close call like today."

"I promise," Harry readily assured him, closing his own arms around Draco as much as he could with his belly pressed between them. This time he didn't even think of protesting about his unofficial house arrest. He had come way too close to dying today and he wasn't keen on reliving that moment.

* * *

The next month passed by without any uproar – both for Harry and the Aurors working on the serial killer case. Draco had informed the team of their suspicion that it had to be either a Healer or a Mediwitch and the team focused their attention on Saint Mungos – who weren't particularly happy that they were targeted now.

* * *

The middle of November already had snow falling down the sky like feathers, blanketing everything it touched, forming a white, cold carpet.

Teddy was with Snape the entire day for his lessons and Harry was finishing up the last preparations for the nursery. After straightening out the white blanket in the cot, he took a step back and surveyed the result of his handiwork.

Next to the large window – which could be covered by long, forest green curtains – a dark wooden wardrobe had been placed, already containing several rompers, trousers and sweaters. Three packs of diapers were placed on the bottom of the wardrobe. Next to the wardrobe was a table, made out of the same wood as the wardrobe, on which they could change and clean the baby. Against the left wall, a beautiful, summer sky blue bed was placed which had a large, wide bow tied around it. The mattress was soft, but firm at the same time and blankets in the colour of the midnight blue sky were waiting for the baby to sleep underneath them. Right across from the bed, a play cot was placed, which contained a soft, white blanket and had several toys lined against the side, including a dark teddy bear with a golden tie.

The walls had been painted a caramel brown and a broad, white line had been painted in the middle of the walls, on which painted unicorns and dragons were either leisurely walking around or flying. A rocking chair with several Comfort charms cast on it was standing in front of the window with a small blanket thrown over the rounded back.

The wooden floorboard was hidden underneath a plush, grass green carpet.

All in all, Harry was quite satisfied with the way the nursery had turned out. He could easily envision his baby sleeping in here and playing in his cot.

Crossing the room to look out of the window, he snatched the baby name book off the table and held it in his hand while his eyes glided over the seemingly infinite white blanket outside. Maybe they would have a white Christmas again this year; Teddy would be very happy about that.

A twinge of pain shooting up his back made him wince and rub his back firmly. With a cluck of his tongue, he sat down in the rocking chair and opened the name book on his lap. So far they hadn't chosen a name yet; Draco wanted to carry on the tradition of Greek names and while Harry had no problem with that, he was absolutely opposed to calling their son 'Hyperion'. What kind of name was that even? Shaking his head, he flipped through the book until he landed on the section with the Greek names and started reading through it, hoping he would find a name that they could both agree on for their son.

A knock on the door made him startle and look up. "Draco? What are you doing here already?" Harry asked amazed after throwing a quick glance at his watch. Barely three p.m. Even Teddy wasn't home yet.

The blond smiled and approached him; his Auror robes hanging over his arm. "Shacklebolt told us to go home sooner," he explained and bent down to sit on his knees in front of Harry. He dropped his robes on the floor and with a sigh of contentment, he placed both his hands on Harry's sides and put his ear against Harry's belly. "Merlin, I missed you today. And the little one as well." He kissed the top of his belly and their son pressed back with his fist, making his stomach ripple faintly.

"Not that I mind, but why did he order that?" Harry asked curiously and put his hand on Draco's hair, scratching his scalp lightly.

A grim, but satisfied smirk bloomed up on Draco's face, making Harry pause the scratching. "We don't have her in custody yet, but we do know who the serial killer is," Draco informed him triumphantly.

"Wait, what? Seriously? Who is it? How did you find out?" Harry demanded to know and he straightened his back. They had finally discovered the killer's identity?

"We first asked which people had access to the files belonging to the obstetrics department and it took us a while to get that information, because of course Saint Mungos didn't want to cooperate initially." Draco rolled his eyes and his right hand shifted from Harry's side to the top of his belly, caressing it slowly. "We had to finally threaten them with obstruction of justice before they agreed to give us the list of names. After that it was easy to narrow it down. There are three blonde women working in that department: two Healers and one Mediwitch. Did you know that the hospital keeps samples of the blood of each of their employees?"

Harry shook his head, his eyes widening.

"We matched the three samples with the little blood we managed to scrape from underneath one of the victim's fingernails and it turns out that our killer is a thirty-two year old Mediwitch named Eilis O Conn," Draco continued and softly tapped Harry's stomach, smiling when their baby pushed back.

"If she isn't in custody, where is she now?" Harry asked apprehensively. It was good that they finally had a name to identity the serial killer, but he would only be really at ease if she was in Azkaban with a Dementor on her floor.

The blond scowled and pursed his lips. "This is where the bad news comes in: the bitch fled. Her superior hasn't seen her in two days and her apartment in Kennington is empty. The owner of the complex told us that she terminated her lease two days ago and he hasn't seen her since then."

"She probably knew we were closing in on her," Harry murmured and sighed. They were _so close_ , but it still wasn't over yet.

"Most likely," Draco agreed and rose up to kiss Harry. "But we'll get her soon, I promise," he whispered against Harry's lips.

"I know; I trust you," Harry stated and returned the soft kiss. They broke apart after a couple of minutes and Harry gestured towards the book. "Care to assist me in choosing a name?"

"With pleasure," Draco grinned and soon they were immersed in a discussion about what would be a good name for their son.

It felt good to forget the lurking danger at least for a while.

* * *

With a couple more weeks to go before he would go into labour, Harry was starting to become anxious. Dragging the extra weight around was starting to become quite a hazard and he would really appreciate seeing his feet completely again without his big belly constructing his view. Not to mention his swollen ankles and aching back. Plus you know, not feeling like a whale would be splendid as well, though Draco kept reassuring him he wasn't that fat and "Really, Harry, you still look gorgeous. How could I ever think you're ugly when you're carrying my child?". The reassurance was appreciated, but it still didn't take away the fact that Harry felt bloated and on the verge of exploding.

The baby had less space to move as well, but somehow he still managed to give some harsh kicks – mostly when Harry was attempting to sleep. Their son just loved interrupting his sleep various times throughout the night; mostly by kicking against his bladder, assuring that Harry needed to get up before he risked wetting the bed.

Having a weak bladder was something he definitely was not going to miss.

* * *

On the fifth of December, Harry was helping Teddy with creating Christmas cards for their family and friends. The young boy insisted on sending handmade cards and Harry had no reason to protest against that; it was a fun way to pass the time and do something with his godson. Teddy understood that Harry couldn't do a lot of things with him anymore since his belly had started to really grow, but Harry knew that Teddy would love to go flying with him. His godson didn't voice that longing, but it was there in the way he looked at their brooms. Until the baby was born, though, there would be no flying for Harry.

"When will my brother be here, Uncle Harry?" Teddy asked; his tongue peeked out between his lips in his concentration to stick the golden star just right on the card.

"Luna estimates he'll be here near the end of December," Harry replied and stuck a finished card in a green envelope. That one would go to Andromeda. "But babies can't be put on a fixed schedule, so it could be earlier than that or later."

"I can't wait to finally see him!" Teddy exclaimed and beamed when he managed to stick the star on the card in the way he wanted.

Harry chuckled and turned his head when he heard the door opening. "Draco?"

Draco looked tense and quite grim and he beckoned Harry to come closer.

A frown marring his face, Harry stood up and put a hand on the table to balance himself. "I'll be right back, Teddy," he told the young boy and walked over to Draco. "What's wrong?"

"Shacklebolt just sent a Patronus," Draco murmured, casting a wary glance at Teddy, who was oblivious to their conversation, humming to himself. "They found O Conn's hiding place; I need to leave now."

Harry took a deep breath, his heart beating quicker at the unexpected news, and nodded. "Okay, be careful," he told the blond and leant forwards to press a firm kiss against his lips. "I don't want to see the hospital again until I need to deliver our son, understood?"

"I'll be careful," Draco promised him, quirking an odd smile. He cupped Harry's belly with one hand, his thumb stroking the side, and pressed another insistent kiss on Harry's mouth. "I love you."

"I love you too," Harry whispered and watched with hooded eyes how Draco swung his robes around his shoulders and marched downstairs to Apparate. A feeling of unsettlement burned in his stomach and he placed his hand on top of his belly, still feeling the imprint of Draco's hand on him. He didn't like this sense of foreboding that was growing inside him. Shaking his head, he told himself not to be ridiculous. Draco would be fine; of all the Aurors currently present he was probably one of the strongest and most clever one. He would return in one piece; there was no need to worry about him. They had had more dangerous missions in the past and they always had survived those.

Yes, he was just being silly, he reassured himself and made his way back to Teddy. He ignored the way his stomach cramped up with nerves.

* * *

Draco had been gone for an hour when a tingle in the back of his mind made Harry aware that something was _wrong_. Furrowing his eyebrows, he raised his head and remained still, trying to figure out what was making his senses scream in danger.

_There._

Ice water seemed to fill his vein and made him freeze up in his chair. Someone had brought down part of the wards near the right side of their house. _Someone was trying to enter his house._

Alarmed he shot up and grabbed his wand from the table, forcing the panic down. It wouldn't do to let his mind be clouded with panic now; he needed a clear mind. He connected his magic briefly to the magic lines coursing through the building and tried to figure out whether he could pick up the intentions of the person intruding.

The wave of intense hatred and rage made him nearly double and he gasped out loud. This was _not good. Not good at all_.

"Uncle Harry?" Teddy asked in a small voice; his eyes wide in fear.

He couldn't allow whoever it was to hurt Teddy. Placing his hands on Teddy's shoulders, he looked the boy straight into his eyes and said in an urgent tone, "Teddy, I need you to listen to me carefully now and do what I tell you to do, okay?"

Teddy nodded silently; his slender body tense with fear.

"I need you to hide out in Draco's wardrobe," Harry told him softly, keeping his senses open to track the intruder's progress. "The big one, all right? You need to close the door completely behind you and you can't come out until I either come to get you or you hear Draco coming into the room, understood? You have to be absolutely silent, baby."

"Wh-what are you going to do?" Teddy sniffled, his eyes watering.

"There is a bad person trying to break in and I'm going to stop them, but I need to know you're safe when I'm doing that," Harry told him. "So please, Moonlet, promise me you will stay in the closet until I come get you or you hear Draco."

"I promise," Teddy whispered, nodding quickly. His whole body had started to quake in fear.

"Good, now go!" Harry urged him on and after throwing one last panic filled look at his uncle – which tugged at Harry's heart – Teddy followed his orders and ran out of the room, up to the second floor where their bedroom was.

Taking a deep breath to steady himself, Harry's grip around his wand tightened and he gritted his teeth. Was it just coincidence that the moment Draco had left the house, a person had shown up who wanted to harm them? Either this person had one hell of a timing or they had been keeping watch on the house to see when Draco would leave. Not to mention: how on earth had they managed to disable part of the wards? Only the specialists at the Ministry knew how to deal with those wards and Harry would have recognized their magical signature if one of them had shown up here.

The creaking of the kitchen door opening made him stiffen. Whoever it was, had managed to get into the house.

Concentrating on his happiest memory – the day Draco had told him he loved him for the first time – he produced a Patronus. The stag regarded him solemnly; one of his hoofs scraping soundlessly against the floor.

"I need you to take this message to Draco," Harry told the stag and continued in a slightly wavering voice, "Draco, someone has disabled part of the wards and is in the house now. I need you to come here with back up immediately. I told Teddy to hide in your closet."

The stag bowed his majestic head and galloped off, right through the wall. Harry could only hope that his message would reach Draco on time.

Bracing himself after casting a Protection charm around his stomach, Harry made his way slowly downstairs, keeping track of the footsteps he could hear in the hallway.

The sense of foreboding had never been stronger.

* * *

When the stag Patronus appeared in front of him, Draco felt the first stirring of dread unfolding. The message Harry's Patronus carried, caused paralysing panic to wrap its ugly arms around him and he froze for a moment, desperately hoping that he had misheard.

"Malfoy?" Weasley regarded him warily; his face a pasty white, making the freckles decorating his face standing out violently.

The Auror team was staking out in a narrow, dirty alley, awaiting the right moment to enter O Conn's hiding place: a decrepit looking house a bit further down the street. A faint light was visible on the second floor and it was on that particular floor that they would apprehend the wench who had been free for far too long.

After Harry's urgent message, however, the blond very much doubted they would find the serial killer in that house.

_They had been deceived._

And if they didn't hurry, Harry would become her tenth victim.

"I need to go home now!" Draco snapped; his breath escaping him in white clouds. "O Conn is after Harry!"

"I'm coming with you," Weasley spoke grimly, rising up from his huddled position.

Abigail looked far too pale to be considered healthy, but her voice was steady when she spoke, "I'll inform Shacklebolt; we'll follow you soon."

At least they knew better than to argue with him now.

They wasted no time Apparating to Draco's house. As soon as he landed on the sidewalk, he could feel that a part of the wards had been lowered – not violently, but in a way that only the ward specialist would be able to do. How was that possible?

Wand firmly clutched in his hand, he warily approached his house, Weasley following right behind him.

Curses lying on the tip of his tongue, ready to be unleashed at the first sign of danger, he slowly opened the front door and after a short moment of waiting and hearing nothing but silence, he entered the hallway. He couldn't stop the hiss from escaping between his teeth. There had definitely been a fight in this place. Several scorch marks decorated the walls; two paintings laid broken on the floor; half of the carpet was gone thanks to some kind of fire spell and several tiles were broken.

Keeping his senses wide open, Draco bit his lip when he couldn't trace Harry's signature – nor that of the killer. Where were they?

After quickly checking the rest of the rooms downstairs they made their way up to the first floor, careful but still hasty. The first floor showed no signs of struggle and they quickly made their way up to the second floor. This floor was safe as well and remembering Harry's message, Draco ran to their bedroom, zeroing in on his big closet.

"Teddy?" he called out worriedly and opened the closet door harshly.

There, hidden behind his formal dress robes, Teddy was hunched down; his arms clenched around his knees, hugging himself; his face a blotchy red with tears. The young boy raised his head as soon as he heard the door open and he practically launched himself at the blond, hysterically sobbing.

Draco was forced to sit down to accommodate the sudden weight and he hugged Teddy tightly, pressing a kiss against his head. "Thank Merlin you're safe," he muttered and closed his eyes for a few seconds. "You did good, Teddy. I'm glad you stayed here."

"Un-uncle Harry w-went to – to fi-fight wi-with the ba-bad per-person," Teddy brought out in a stutter, his fists clenched in Draco's robes.

His heart seemed to stop for a few seconds and Draco took a shuddering breath, hearing Weasley softly curse. Of course Harry had gone to fight with O Conn. He wouldn't have risked her getting close to Teddy. But in protecting his godson, he had landed himself in great danger.

"Did you hear what happened?" Draco asked urgently and pushed Teddy back a little, so that he could look in his eyes.

"Th-there were a – a lot of cu-curses," Teddy stammered and his entire body shook. "Th-then th-they st-stopped a-and I – I think I h-heard the do-door open."

"She took him away, but to where?" Weasley muttered. "It can't be her hiding place."

"I put a Tracking charm on his present," Draco murmured and bit his lip. "Teddy, did Harry wear his bracelet today?"

"The-the one you gave a-as a pr-present?" Teddy asked with a quivering lower lip. "Ye-yes, he w-was wearing it."

"Then we'll be able to find out where he was taken, but we need to be quick," Draco spoke harshly and stood up, but Teddy continued to cling to his robes. "Teddy, I'm going to search Harry, but I need you to …"

"I – I don't want t-to be alone!" Teddy looked at him pleadingly; panic still splattered across his face.

"What on earth is going on here?"

Both men whipped their heads around. Granger and Lovegood were standing in the doorway: Lovegood with her serene smile and Granger with a heavy frown on her face.

"The fire spirit told me Harry needed me," Lovegood informed them solemnly. She tugged at Granger's sleeve. "The air spirit said it was best to bring her along."

Any other moment and Draco would seriously be questioning Lovegood's sanity, but now he was beyond glad to see her. Who cared how she knew that Harry was in danger? All that mattered was that she could help Harry if there was a need to – and Draco desperately hoped that they wouldn't end up needing her help.

"Too long to explain now, but O Conn has taken Harry with her and Weasley and I are going after her," Draco told Granger hastily and shoved Teddy towards her. "Please take care of Teddy while we're gone."

For once Granger seemed to realise that demanding more information would be a very bad thing and she only nodded grimly, worry lurking in her deep brown eyes while she pulled Teddy towards her. "Come on, Teddy, let's go make chocolate milk," she said in a forced cheery tone.

"Lovegood, you're coming with us," Draco snapped and marched out of the bedroom, hearing the other two following him closely. His arms trembled slightly and his legs seemed to consist out of jelly, but he forced himself to go on. There was no way in hell he was going to let that bitch take Harry and their son away from him. She better hoped that she hadn't harmed his lover – because if she did, she would wish that she had landed in Azkaban with the Dementors.

Eyes hardened in rage, he held out his arms as soon as they were outside the wards. "Grab my arm; I'll be able to Apparate us to the place where she took him," he ordered his two companions and silently they took a hold of his arms.

Concentrating on the thread of his magic that connected him to Harry's bracelet, he let his magic Apparate them to the place where O Conn had taken Harry.

* * *

They landed in front of an old cottage, surrounded by large trees. They seemed to be somewhere in the middle of a forest, but Draco didn't spare his surroundings another glance. While Weasley sent a Patronus to Shacklebolt to inform them of their location, Draco was already marching up to the house and before either of the two could stop him, he blasted the door in several pieces.

"Well, so far the whole sneaking up plan," Weasley muttered with a sigh, but shut up once Draco turned a murderous glare on him.

Fuck sneaking up; that witch should be glad if he didn't kill her on sight.

A blood curling, too familiar to set him at ease scream resounded through the cottage and Draco stormed inside, up the rickety staircase; rage coursing through his body like lava.

Only one closed room had light shining through the crack of the door and Draco barged inside, his wand already pointed in front of him. He came to an abrupt halt when his brain translated the sight in front of him.

O Conn had turned her head towards him with a look of rage on her face; her blonde curls dancing wildly around her face. Blood was splattered across her dark blue dress and various cuts on her arms and legs oozed blood.

It was Harry who grabbed his attention immediately. His husband, the man he had sworn to protect, was curled up on the floor; remnants of rope wrapped around his red chafed wrists, drops of blood dirtying his cheeks – his hands steadily becoming redder and redder while he tried to cover the deep gash in his stomach.

"No, no, no, th-this can't be happening," Harry moaned brokenly; his panic filled, green eyes staring at his stomach. "Yo-you can-can't die, no-not now. Please!"

Draco had been too late. O Conn had managed to stab him. Which meant that …

Pure, hot rage blinded his vision and he was barely aware of the Dark Curses that slipped out of his mouth, all aimed at one person and one person only: O Conn. The one who was responsible for killing their son.

Vaguely he heard Weasley shouting at him, trying to stop him, but he just shook him off roughly and casted the Dancing Bone curse next. O Conn managed to evade that one, but she wasn't quick enough to avoid the Severing curse, which seared neatly through her wrist, cutting off her hand, which fell on the dusty floor with a soft 'thump'.

She let out a raged scream and fired back a curse that had a dark green colour. Without blinking Draco called up a strong shield and moved behind it, already firing off the Nerve Ignite curse.

 _She needed to die_. She needed to suffer for what she had done to them.

One of her curses managed to catch his hand and even through the burning pain of the burn wound, he kept firing off curses, using ones he had sworn so many years ago to never use again. This was no time to play around. If he had to use those Dark curses to make her suffer, he would.

Two rapidly fired curses caused the muscles in her legs to give out, paralysed by the curses. She raised her wand to spit out a curse, but one Bone Breaking curse caused her to drop her wand with a shout and Draco summoned it to him. Holding her murderous gaze, he calmly snapped her wand, throwing the pieces behind him. Slowly he approached her, resembling a panther in the wild, and her gaze turned from murderous defiant to fearful; obviously she had seen something in his gaze that made her realise that she had picked out the wrong person to fuck over.

"Malfoy, don't fucking do it!" Weasley raged, trying to work his way around the tangle of ropes that had bound him to the wall. "She needs to be put in Azkaban; she needs to pay for her crimes!"

"I _am_ letting her pay for her crimes," Draco responded blankly, coming to a stop two feet away from her. "I think this is a more sufficient way to make her pay."

"You really don't want to do this, Malfoy! You're risking your career here – hell, you're risking being thrown in Azkaban for torture and possibly even murder! Do you really want her to win by getting your arse thrown in prison? She isn't worth a stay in that place, Malfoy, you know that!" Weasley snapped.

"I'll gladly spend time in prison if that means I can make her pay," Draco murmured, tapping his wand against his wrist. He cocked his head, trying to decide which curse he would use next.

An odd sound broke the tense silence in the room and Draco stiffened. He was hearing things, right? That couldn't be …

Lovegood's voice drifted over to him. "Draco? Do you want to hold your son? He wants to see his papa."

Stiffly, not daring to believe his ears, he turned around. There was Luna, kneeling next to Harry, with her hands over his cut open stomach; her hands emitted a gentle glow and even from his position, Draco could see how the skin was slowly knitting together, forming new cells to cover the cut.

Harry was leaning against the wall, his eyes drooping in exhaustion – with their crying baby clutched against his chest.

"Wh-what?" Draco whispered and stumbled towards them. This couldn't be really happening. He had seen the cut – their baby would have been killed by it. So how …

"Your baby is just as lucky as his daddy." Lovegood beamed up at him. "He's a fighter, your son. You can be proud of him."

"Harry?" Draco whispered, falling down on his knees next to his lover. Hesitatingly he reached out with his hand, not quite daring to touch Harry, for fear that this was just a dream. An illusion.

A weak, but relieved smile bloomed open on Harry's face. "He's alive, Draco," Harry murmured and tears dripped over his cheeks. "Luna got him out on time. He's still alive. He isn't … She didn't …"

"Oh Merlin," Draco breathed out and with his hurt, but clean hand, he softly caressed his son's cheek, making the baby grumble in protest.

Their son was still alive. Against all odds, he had managed to survive the attack. Harry and their son had done what none of the other men had been able to do: they survived.

Their kiss had never felt so sweet before.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's note: We have arrived at the last chapter - which is admittedly shorter than the previous ones, but it couldn't be really helped. Also, yes, I still can't write decent ending *sweatdrops*
> 
> Once again thank you all for your support! It really makes me happy to see so many people commenting and favouriting!
> 
> Thanks for all the comments and kudos! I really appreciate them!
> 
> Warnings: mentions of past miscarriages - I think that's the main warning for this one. Oh and a small time skip
> 
> Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter - J.K. Rowling owns it.
> 
> I hope you'll enjoy this epilogue!
> 
> I swear, one of these days I'll write an ending that'll actually make sense. Please leave your thoughts behind in a review! If you spot any mistakes, please let me know as well!
> 
> The next story I'm planning on posting is almost finished and I'm aiming to post it in a couple of weeks. *crosses fingers* 
> 
> I hope to see you all back in my future stories!

_Chapter 7: Epilogue_

Harry looked up from watching Scorpius feed when the door of the nursery softly opened. Draco entered the room, still clad in his Auror robes; his eyes displaying his exhaustion and at the same time relief. His eyes lightened up when they caught sight of his husband and son.

"Where is Teddy?" he asked, looking around the room as if he expected the young boy to pop out from his hiding place.

Adjusting Scorpius slightly in his arms, Harry replied, "He's gone back to his room to sleep. I think the baby kept him awake last night." A rueful smile coloured his lips when he recalled the loud screams that Scorpius had produced in the late hours of the night to alert them to the fact that he was hungry and needed his diaper changed.

"I knew we had forgotten something," Draco murmured and shook his head. "I'll put up some Muffle charms around his room. Severus will have my head if Teddy falls asleep during his lessons."

The dark haired wizard winced, recalling the scolding he had got from the severe looking, older man when he had got wind of the fact that Harry had fought the killer on his own at first. Although the scolding had not been as bad as seeing Teddy's anguished face when Harry finally returned home, limping and bloodied. His godson had thought he would never see Harry again and it broke the man's heart to see the young boy so frightened. The past couple of days had been hard on them, because Teddy had nightmares and refused to leave Harry out of his sight, preferring to clutch to his shirt with one hand while he helped take care of his younger brother. It was nothing short of a miracle actually that Teddy had agreed to go back to sleep a few hours ago.

It would definitely be a while yet before Teddy would be comfortable having Harry out of his sight, but the dark haired man couldn't really blame him for his reaction.

Glancing at his blond husband, he recalled the reason why Draco had to leave urgently this morning.

"How did it go?" Harry asked and hushed Scorpius, who had started to protest when the bottle wasn't tilted enough for his liking. "You're a greedy, little thing, aren't you?" the dark haired man whispered, but smiled tenderly at the small, blond haired baby lying against his chest.

Sleepy, emerald green eyes stared back at him, clearly unimpressed, making him hold back a chuckle. Yeah, he was definitely a Malfoy, all right.

"She finally admitted to killing all those men," Draco informed him; his eyes fixated at their son. He leant against the wall and sighed. "It took the Aurors interrogating her quite some time, though."

"What was her reason?" Harry frowned and pulled the bottle away once he noticed that it was empty. Placing the bottle on the table, he put a kitchen towel on his shoulder and patted Scorpius' back softly, until he heard him burp and felt the kitchen towel being soaked. "Good boy," he praised Scorpius and pressed a kiss on his soft, blond hair, making the baby gurgle in happiness.

The dirty kitchen towel and the empty bottle were swiftly taken away by Mimmy, who smiled at Scorpius gently before popping away again.

"She suffered four miscarriages, during either the sixth or the seventh month," Draco answered; the corners of his mouth pulled down in a grimace. "After those four failed pregnancies, the Healer told her she would never be able to carry a baby to term. Apparently she had been bit by a stray curse during the war and that damaged her body too much for her to handle a pregnancy to term. She got mad with grief and according to her, she thought that if she wasn't allowed to have children, then none of the men should have them either, because it wouldn't be fair if a man was able to carry a child to term and a woman wasn't."

"So she had gone mad with grief and jealousy," Harry murmured and shook his head. One small part in him felt sorry for O Conn. It must have been hard to constantly try to get pregnant and every time lose her baby, no matter what she did. But her grief didn't excuse her from what she had done. She had ripped families apart by taking their loved ones away from them, had pregnant men punished for being able to do what she couldn't. No matter how strong her grief was, nothing excused her murdering innocent people.

"She's been taken to Azkaban while she awaits her trial," Draco informed him and removed his Auror robes.

"Are they going to go for the insanity angle?" Harry questioned and softly rocked Scorpius back and forth to get him to sleep.

"Her lawyer will most likely try to play that angle, but I doubt he'll succeed," Draco snorted. "Her killings combined with her use of Dark Arts to keep her magic from destroying her will be enough to send her to prison for the rest of her life." His eyes darkened slightly. "If you ask me, lifelong imprisonment is still too good for her."

"Are you going to be put on trial?" Harry asked apprehensively and bit his lip. He had been mostly out of it when Luna had started working on getting their baby out of his stomach before he died, but he could vaguely remember hearing Draco using very Dark curses during his fight with O Conn. There was no way to hide his use of them, considering how O Conn's body looked like after the fight.

Draco breathed out slowly, raked a hand through his hair and shook his head. "No, Shacklebolt has decided to put a little twist on the story. I only started using Dark curses to defend myself after she had started attacking me. I won't be questioned. According to him, the Wizengamot is just far too happy that the killer is caught to care about how she looked like."

"Well, I'm glad to hear you're not going to face any repercussions," Harry sighed relieved. He didn't think he could handle it if Draco had to go to prison for attacking O Conn. Yes, he hadn't exactly done it in defence, but Harry could hardly blame him for acting like he had done. A dark part inside of him admitted that he would have done the same if the roles had been reversed.

Casting a look down, he smiled when he saw that Scorpius had fallen asleep and he slowly stood up, careful not to make any sudden moves while he made his way to the bed. He lowered their son on the mattress and covered him with the blanket. Caressing his soft hair, he pressed a light kiss on his forehead.

"Sweet dreams, darling," he whispered and straightened up with a smile. He thanked Merlin every day that his son had survived the awful attack. He was aware of the fact that it had been a very close call. Shuddering at the memory, he turned around, blinking when he saw the odd look in Draco's eyes.

"What's wrong?" he asked confused and walked over to the blond.

"You're not afraid of me?" Grey eyes deepened; his jaw was clenched.

"What? No, of course not." Harry shook his head, feeling quite bewildered. "Why would I be afraid of you?"

"Because I used very Dark curses? Because I could have killed O Conn? Because I _wanted_ to kill her?" Draco spoke harshly, but softly, aware of the sleeping baby not even seven feet away from them. "The only reason I stopped is because I heard Scorpius cry. But even then I wanted to make her suffer. If Scorpius hadn't made a sound, I would have killed her, no matter what the consequences would have been."

"Draco, I'm not scared of you," Harry spoke forcefully and placed his hands on Draco's cheeks. "You're not evil. You're not a Dark Wizard. You did what you did, because you wanted to protect me. If I had been in your place, I would have done the exact same thing."

Draco still looked uncertain, as if he expected Harry to jump back in disgust at any second now.

"Do you want to hurt me?" Harry tried a different tactic. "Do you want to attack me with Dark Curses?"

"What? Of course not!" Draco exclaimed in disgust and stared at him horrified. "How could you even think I would ever want to do that?"

"Do you want to attack Hermione? Ron? Our friends? Your mother? Teddy?" Harry continued, ignoring his outrage. He had a point to make.

"Of course not! I would never hurt them!" Draco hissed and his eyes lit up in anger.

"Then you're not an evil person. A Dark Wizard would never have cared about whom he hurt," Harry spoke softly. "He would never have cared whether the one he hurt was his lover or his family or his friends. You're not evil, Draco. Never have been, never will be. You did what you did to protect me. To protect our son." He placed a soft kiss on pale rose lips. "You will never scare me. What I saw that day was a man who was furious about what had been done to me; a man who did his best to protect me. Not a Dark Wizard. Not an evil person."

"You don't know how scared I was when I saw you lying there," Draco murmured; a misty sheen covering his eyes. His arms came around Harry, hugging him tightly. "How afraid I was when I got your message. How panicked when I arrived home and didn't find you. I was scared that I would be too late; that by the time I found you, you would already be dead."

"But you did find me on time, you weren't too late," Harry whispered and kissed him again. "I knew I could trust you to find me on time. You never failed me, Draco. Not once."

"I'm just glad that I still have you," Draco whispered into his ear, dropping a kiss on his ear shell. "I don't know what I would have done if you had died."

Harry didn't say anything and instead chose to hug Draco tighter, resting his head against his shoulder.

They needed to go downstairs soon, to meet with McGonagall who was going to raise wards of her own around their house. One of the ward specialists at the Ministry had admitted yesterday that he had told O Conn how to disable the wards when she had flirted with him at a pub. He hadn't recognised her and in a haze of booze and promises of sex, he had told her everything she needed to know in order to bring down the wards.

Needless to say that particular specialist had lost his job immediately, after compromising it in such a dangerous way.

But before they met up with the Headmistress, Harry was content to bask in Draco's reassuring presence, with the soft breathing of their baby acting as soothing background noise.

It had been one hell of a year, but they had come out on top of it again. They had triumphed and beaten the odds; something not many had been able to do.

And, Harry raised his head to accept the tender kiss Draco bestowed upon him, they would do it again and again. They would always triumph and survive. They were fighters and they would never back down.

Their love for each other was their building stone, that which made them stronger and made them able to beat the odds over and over again.

Yes, this year had been one of close calls, but they had survived. Like they always would.

"I love you," Draco whispered; grey eyes gazing at him lovingly.

Emerald green eyes glittered in the weak December sunlight when Harry replied, "I love you too."

Then together, hand in hand, they made their way downstairs to talk to McGonagall. It was a whole new day again.


End file.
